Editor’s observe: This story was up to date to incorporate a remark from San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones.
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, mentioned he’ll ask the Justice Division and applicable congressional committees to analyze the deadly capturing of a San Antonio man by federal immigration brokers practically a yr in the past.
Throughout a Friday name with reporters, Castro questioned why the general public is simply now studying of the involvement of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the March 15, 2025, capturing dying of 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez, a U.S. citizen.
“It’s very uncommon that for nearly a yr they’d not disclose that an ICE agent shot and killed this particular person,” mentioned Castro, who added that he’ll additionally attain out to Martinez’s household to supply help.
The Congressman accused the Texas Division of Public Security and the Texas Rangers of working in cahoots with the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety to orchestrate an “organized coverup” of the capturing. Though the Rangers mentioned they’re investigating the capturing, which occurred on South Padre Island, Castro mentioned he believes that’s a stalling tactic.
Though some South Texas media reported on Martinez’s dying final yr, ICE’s involvement solely got here to mild after nonprofit watchdog group American Oversight publicly launched a trove of paperwork associated to federal immigration brokers’ use of drive.
In a press release Friday to the Texas Tribune, Division of Homeland Safety confirmed the capturing, accusing Martinez of “deliberately” working over an agent who was serving to direct site visitors at an accident web site. The agent was taken to a hospital for a knee harm and later launched, data present.
Castro mentioned he’s not taking DHS’s rationalization at face worth, although. He pointed to federal officers’ makes an attempt to spin the narrative after ICE brokers shot Minneapolis residents Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
“We’re not in regular occasions. I can’t simply belief what ICE says,” Castro mentioned. “I have to get all the knowledge.”
In a press release launched Saturday morning, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones echoed Castro’s sentiment and issued her personal name for members to Congress to open an investigation into the dying.
“In regular occasions, I’d name upon the suitable departments to analyze this matter,” mentioned Mayor Jones. “Nonetheless, we’re not in regular occasions, and it’s unclear any department-led investigations can be pretty executed, as evident by the delay in getting solutions up to now. Subsequently, our Congressional leaders should do their half in initiating an oversight investigation into the dying of Ruben Ray Martinez.”
American Oversight Government Director Chioma Chukwu on Friday instructed the Texas Tribune that the Trump administration has repeatedly misled the general public about its immigration enforcement actions, including that the shortage of transparency round Martinez’s dying is regarding.
“What they’re telling the general public may be very completely different than what they’re doing behind closed doorways,” Chukwu mentioned. “The one cause why we’re capable of make these connections and actually name into query the general public statements that they’re making to mislead the general public is as a result of we’re capable of get our palms on these paperwork. That ought to deeply concern everybody.”
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