Mother of 23-Year-Old Killed by ICE Demands Accountability as DHS Withholds Shooting Details
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 18
Mother of 23-Year-Old Killed by ICE Demands Accountability as DHS Withholds Shooting Details
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 18
Summary
Rachel Reyes says DHS still has shown “zero indication” it treated the March 2025 killing of her 23-year-old son, Ruben Ray Martinez, as a serious accountability test.
Martinez was an unarmed U.S. citizen in Texas, and Reyes says the department withheld full details of the shooting; it was not publicly known an ICE agent fired the fatal shot until an unrelated lawsuit forced disclosure.
Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation hearing raised Reyes’s hopes for a more transparent approach at Homeland Security, but she says more than three months into his tenure he has not publicly acknowledged her son’s death.
Reyes argues the case predates other fatal encounters involving federal agents and shows why immigration enforcement should not come at the expense of transparency, honest answers and public trust.