Ruben Ray Martinez Was Killed in an Undisclosed ICE Shooting in March, His Family Says
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by Pooja Salhotra and Edgar SandovalFebruary 20, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
A 23-year-old American named Ruben Ray Martinez was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in South Padre Island, Texas, in March 2025. The incident occurred after Martinez failed to comply with commands to exit his vehicle. ICE’s involvement in the shooting was not revealed until this week, when internal documents were made public. This case comes to light just months before another high-profile killing of an American citizen by law enforcement, involving Renee Good in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide protests.
According to ICE internal reports obtained by *The New York Times*, the shooting happened around 12:40 a.m. on March 15, 2025. The documents describe the victim as a young man who was celebrating his birthday with a friend when he was killed. Martinez’s mother, Rachel Reyes, described her son as a hardworking and peaceful individual with no history of confrontation or violence. He worked at an Amazon warehouse in San Antonio and had recently turned 23.
The lack of transparency surrounding the incident initially led local media to report it as a law enforcement shooting without identifying the agency involved. ICE’s connection to the case was only confirmed this week, raising questions about why the details were
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Originally published on NYT Homepage on 2/20/2026