In Texas, an immigration police officer shot and killed a US citizen while checking documents. This happened back in the spring of 2025, but the information was not disclosed

In the spring of 2025, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed 23-year-old American Ruben Ray Martinez during a roadside ID check, the Associated Press reports, citing documents from the US Department of Homeland Security that have not yet been publicly disclosed.

Martinez was fatally shot on the night of March 15, 2025, on South Padre Island in Texas when his car was stopped on the highway by immigration police officers who were helping to regulate traffic after an accident with several victims.

Thus, the agency notes, Martinez's death was the first of at least six known fatal shootings involving ICE officers since the campaign to tighten immigration laws began in the second term of President Donald Trump.

Local media reported on Martinez's death, but federal authorities did not disclose that the incident involved members of the investigative unit (HSI) of the immigration police. The non-profit human rights organization American Oversight was able to obtain this information through a judicial request.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in response that the shooting on South Padre Island occurred after the driver of a car intentionally hit an investigative officer. The department's report said the driver did not respond to orders to exit the vehicle and then suddenly hit the gas, causing one HSI officer to "end up on the hood of the vehicle." Another officer shot several times through the open window of the car for defensive purposes. The driver was taken to the hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead. A migration police officer suffered a knee injury and was released after outpatient treatment.

• In January 2026, immigration police officers shot and killed two local residents, US citizens Renee Goode and Alex Pretty, during raids in Minneapolis. Due to widespread protests against ICE's actions, the White House announced it would end operations against immigrants in Minnesota.