Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old US citizen, was shot dead by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a traffic stop in South Padre Island, Texas, in the early hours of 15 March 2025. More than a year on, his mother, Rachel Reyes, says she is still fighting for accountability, after a Texas grand jury declined to charge the agent involved and the Department of Homeland Security took nearly a year to publicly confirm its role in his death.

Martinez was driving through a busy intersection where officers, including Homeland Security Investigations agents, were managing the aftermath of an earlier crash. DHS alleges he "intentionally ran over" an HSI officer, but body-camera footage reviewed by NPR shows him receiving conflicting directions from officers before slowly moving forward, and it remains unclear whether any contact actually took place. Reyes has criticised the handling of the case, saying it feels as though her son's life did not matter, and her lawyer says the family is exploring further legal avenues. The shooting occurred early in President Trump's second term amid a wider immigration enforcement crackdown, during which at least 10 people have died and more than 29 shootings involving immigration agents have been recorded since January 2025.