House Oversight Democrats Demand Investigation into Death of Ruben Ray Martinez

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Monday, Congressman Robert Garcia and Congressman Greg Casar demanded an independent investigation into the death of Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. Citizen shot and killed by ICE agents in South Padre Island, Texas.

In a letter to the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Garcia and Casar call for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Martinez's death and into "any subsequent action taken by HSI and other DHS officials to conceal the facts and circumstances" around it.

Martinez was shot by an HSI agent on March 15, 2025, one of 23 people shot by DHS personnel over the last 14 months.

For nearly a year, DHS and the Texas Department of Public Safety attempted to conceal ICE's involvement in the shooting and lied about the circumstances, falsely claiming that Martinez intentionally struck an agent with his vehicle. The claim was later contradicted by video evidence, released only after demands by Members of Congress.

"Mr. Martinez's death is a tragedy that should never have happened," Garcia and Casar write. "DHS's repeated lies and omissions about the shooting of Mr. Martinez reflect a troubling pattern in which official statements about the use of lethal force are later challenged by video footage, witness testimony, or subsequent investigations."

Garcia is the Ranking Member and Casar a member of the House Oversight Committee, which is the principal oversight committee of the House of Representatives. They request a briefing no later than April 6th.

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Congressman Greg Casar represents Texas's 35th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which runs down I-35 from East Austin to Hays County to the West Side of San Antonio. A labor organizer and son of Mexican immigrants, Casar serves as the Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for the 119th Congress. He also serves on the Committee on Education and Labor and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability.