Her son was killed by ICE at a traffic stop. She says she’s still waiting for justice : NPR
Rachel Reyes holds a photo of her son, Ruben Ray Martinez, a U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a traffic encounter in Texas.
Brenda Bazán for NPR
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Brenda Bazán for NPR
When Rachel Reyes learned about the recent deaths of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero at the hands of federal immigration agents, she had flashbacks to what happened to her son 16 months ago.
“It really breaks my heart for the families because I understand the nightmare they’re going through,” Reyes says.
Her son, Ruben Ray Martinez, was fatally shot in March 2025 by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a traffic stop — like in the cases of Salgado Araujo and Durán Guerrero.
Martinez was killed two months into President Trump’s return to office and the start of his aggressive immigration crackdown. Since then, there have been 29 additional instances in which immigration agents shot at civilians — at least seven of which turned deadly, according to The Tracea nonprofit journalism site focused on gun violence. The Associated Press reports at least 10 fatalities during Trump’s second term.
NPR reported on Martinez’s death back in April — tracing his family’s nearly yearlong saga to obtain body camera footage and for the case to be presented to a state grand jury, which later declined to bring charges against the agent who opened fire. Reyes says it’s been difficult to watch history repeat itself, especially since she’s still seeking accountability.
“It’s just really upsetting, the whole thing, because I know what it feels like, and it’s incredibly frustrating to be treated like if your loved one’s life doesn’t matter,” she says. Reyes, who is from San Antonio, Texas, recently wrote about the need for greater transparency and accountability in ICE shootings in and op-ed for The New York Times.
A close-up of Rachel Reyes holding a photo of her son, Ruben Ray Martinez.
Brenda Bazán for NPR
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Brenda Bazán for NPR
Deadly encounters, once again at traffic stops
Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, was fatally shot in the early hours of March 15, 2025, on South Padre Island, a resort destination in south Texas. After a night spent celebrating his birthday, Martinez approached a busy intersection, where a car crash had taken place hours earlier. Officers from multiple agencies were on scene to help manage traffic, including Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of ICE.
When reached for comment, the Department of Homeland Security told NPR the driver “intentionally ran over” an HSI officer, which sent him onto the hood of Martinez’s blue Ford. “Upon witnessing this, another agent fired defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public,” DHS added. The agency said the officer who made contact with the car “sustained a knee injury and was taken to the hospital.”
But footage from state and local officers’ body cameras, released by the Texas Department of Public Safety, shows Martinez was given conflicting directions before he slowly drove forward and to the left. It’s also unclear from the videos reviewed by NPR whether the vehicle struck an agent.
DHS gave similar accounts in the cases of Salgado Araujo in Texas and Durán Guerrero in Maine, who were killed in the span of a week this month. In both cases, the agency said the two men attempted to flee traffic stops and weaponized their vehicles. In Maine, DHS said the ICE officer feared “for public safety” before firing his weapon. But the federal government has yet to release video evidence that supports those claims. Two passengers in the van driven by Salgado Araujo have disputed ICE’s accounts, Houston Public Media reported. In both incidents, ICE agents were not wearing body cameras.
Beyond shooting incidents, a recent American Civil Liberties Union report found dozens of incidents across eight states since January 2025 where immigration officers rammed into people’s cars, smashed vehicle windows and struck people with cars.
Last week, following the two deadly traffic stops, NPR reported that DHS planned to halt nonurgent vehicle stops. But a day after the reports of a policy shift, Trump posted on Truth Social that they must continue.
“We CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” he wrote. “Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands.”
At a press briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt further added that vehicle stops are “a necessary tool that ICE agents need in order to continue their deportation campaign.”
A long, difficult legal process
In Martinez’s case, it took 11 months for DHS to publicly acknowledge its involvement. It only came to light after American Oversight, a watchdog group, filed a public records request for documents related to ICE’s use of force. In late February, a grand jury in Texas declined to bring criminal charges against the federal agent who killed Martinez. Rachel Reyes’ attorney Charles Stam says they’re currently exploring all legal options.
“If a U.S. citizen killed by an ICE agent cannot get a serious federal investigation or an admission of fault, imagine the odds facing families whose immigration status is precarious, who lack legal representation, or whose loved one’s death did not happen to be caught on camera,” Stam says.
Meanwhile, in Minnesota, it remains unclear if the federal immigration agents responsible for the deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti back in January will be charged. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said last Monday her office finally received evidence that was previously withheld by the Justice Department, including hard drives containing statements and body camera footage, according to MPR News.
Meanwhile, Minnesota has charged an ICE agent in a nonfatal shooting of a Venezuelan man, also in January. But prosecuting federal agents can be difficult and is relatively rare since they typically have broad legal protections while carrying out their duties.
Reyes says she hoped for change and a decrease in deadly encounters with ICE when Markwayne Mullin took over leadership of the Department of Homeland Security in March. But after the recent shootings, Reyes feels at a loss about what it will take to see accountability and justice for families who lose a loved one to an immigration agent.
“ It shouldn’t be our new normal,” she says. “They’re destroying more families with all this chaos, and it’s not right.”
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