In the spring of 2025, an officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot and killed 23-year-old U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez during a roadside document check. The incident was reported by the Associated Press, citing previously undisclosed materials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Martinez sustained the fatal gunshot wound on the night of March 15, 2025, on South Padre Island, Texas. His vehicle was stopped on a highway by immigration officers who at the time were assisting with traffic control following a road accident that left several people injured.
According to the agency, Martinez’s death marked the first known episode in what has been at least six fatal shootings involving ICE officers since the launch of a campaign to tighten immigration enforcement during Donald Trump’s second presidential term.
Local media reported on the death itself, but federal authorities did not disclose that officers from the investigative division HSI, which operates within the immigration police structure, were involved in the incident. This information emerged only after a court request filed by the nonprofit watchdog organization American Oversight.
Commenting on the incident, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the shooting on South Padre Island began after the driver allegedly deliberately struck an officer from the investigative unit. According to the departmental report, the driver ignored orders to exit the vehicle and then abruptly accelerated, causing one HSI officer to “end up on the hood of the car.” Another officer then fired several shots through the open window, acting in self-defense. The driver was taken to a hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead. The immigration officer sustained a knee injury and was released after receiving outpatient treatment.