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U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro is calling for an investigation by the Department of Justice and Congress into the fatal shooting last year of a San Antonio man involving federal immigration agents.
Newsweek first reported that the man was 23-year-old San Antonio resident Ruben Ray Martinez, who was shot and killed in March 2025. Castro said he would press officials to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
“It appears as though the Department of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers, and the federal government, DHS knew that he was killed by ICE agents. So this looks like it was an organized cover up," Castro said during a virtual news conference Friday.
Martinez’s death may have been among the first fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. In January 2026, ICE agents shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis during a traffic stop. Weeks later, another U.S. citizen, Alex Pretti, was also fatally shot by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis.
The March 2025 shooting occurred during an accident investigation on South Padre Island. Law enforcement officers say Martinez was shot after failing to obey their commands.
Initial accounts did not indicate federal agents were involved, prompting calls for further investigation.
In a statement to Texas Public Radio, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Homeland Security Investigations agents were assisting South Padre Island police with traffic control when “a driver of a blue Ford intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent resulting in him being on the hood of the vehicle.” The statement said another agent “fired defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public.”
DHS said Martinez was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, and that the injured agent was treated for a knee injury. The agency said the incident remains under investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety Ranger Division. The Texas Department of Public Safety declined to comment, citing the active investigation.
