Press release from State Rep. Gina Hinojosa’s Office. This story was reported on by Chris Mosser during Progress Texas’ Daily Dispatch Podcast segment, click here to listen.

Austin, TX — Today, State Rep. Gina Hinojosa filed a Public Information Act and a legislative oversight inquiry for the release of body camera and dashcam footage related to the fatal shooting of San Antonio resident Ruben Ray Martinez on South Padre Island by federal immigration agents last March. This demand comes following reporting that revealed the shooting was concealed from the public for over a year.

"A young man was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Texas and it took investigative reporters and a FOIA request to find out about it a year later. This is unacceptable. An American died at the hands of a federal agent and no one knew. This complete lack of accountability is a threat to all Americans and all Texans." said Hinojosa. "This is now the third American citizen to be shot and killed by ICE in the streets. How many more people have been shot and killed that we don't know about? Greg Abbott has the power to order state police to release this footage today. I urge him to do so immediately to preserve the rule of law and ensure transparency and accountability for the people of Texas.”

According to internal ICE documents uncovered through a FOIA request and reported by American Oversight, Martinez was shot on March 15, 2025, by an HSI supervisory special agent who fired multiple rounds through the driver's side window of his vehicle during a traffic incident. While local media reported his death at the time, federal involvement was never disclosed. DPS did not identify which agency was involved, and the South Padre Island city manager confirmed only that local officers did not fire their weapons. The case appears to be the first known fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by a federal agent during the Trump administration's immigration crackdown – predating the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis by nearly ten months.

Abbott has rolled out the red carpet for federal immigration operations in Texas, offering state land, deploying the Texas National Guard to work inside ICE detention centers, and cheerleading an enforcement regime that is killing American citizens and detaining families in inhumane conditions. The detention facilities where the National Guard is deployed are run by CoreCivic and GEO Group, private prison companies that have donated to Abbott's campaigns. The Abbott administration created the special licensing category in 2015 that allows children to be detained in these facilities without meeting normal child care standards – Texas is the only state in the nation where this is permitted.

Texas holds more than 18,700 ICE detainees – the highest share of any state. Under Abbott, the state is not just hosting these operations – it is subsidizing and encouraging them.

You can read the official information requests to the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department here.