An ICE agent fatally shot 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez, a U.S. citizen, through the side window of his car on South Padre Island in March 2025.Courtesy of Rachel ReyesTwo members of Congress are asking the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general to investigate the 2025 fatal shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez on South Padre Island and whether federal officials later concealed key facts about the case.In a March 24, 2026, letter, U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia of California and Greg Casar of Texas asked Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari to investigate the death of Martinez. The 23-year-old U.S. citizen from San Antonio who was shot and killed in March 2025 during an encounter with agents of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.Article continues below this adThe lawmakers accused DHS and the Texas Department of Public Safety of withholding basic facts about the shooting for nearly a year, concealing ICE’s involvement and misrepresenting what happened. They wrote that DPS described the case only as an “officer-involved” shooting and that body-camera and surveillance footage were released only after public pressure and demands from members of Congress.“Mr. Martinez’s death is a tragedy that should never have happened,” Garcia and Casar wrote. “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.”On March 15, 2025, Martinez approached a traffic stop in the early morning hours while federal, state and local officers were at the scene. DHS has since said that ICE's Homeland Security Investigations agents were there to help control traffic after a major crash when Martinez tried to run over an agent with his car.In February, the DHS said that the federal agent fired “defensive shots” and that Martinez “intentionally ran over” another agent.Article continues below this adBut, Garcia and Casar said released video footage shows Martinez was given conflicting instructions by officers from multiple agencies and that his car “appears to have been stopped or moving at a crawl” when HSI Agent Jack C. Stevens fired three shots into Martinez’s blue Ford sedan.The letter says Martinez was then pulled from the car, thrown to the ground and handcuffed while lying face down. Joshua Orta, identified as Martinez’s childhood friend and a passenger in the car, was ordered out of the vehicle and taken into custody.The request for an inspector general investigation comes weeks after video footage became public and after a Cameron County grand jury declined to indict the agent in Martinez’s death.Article continues below this adThe Department of Public Safety released the video from the body camera of a South Padre Island police officer. The federal agent who shot Martinez was not wearing a body camera.Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz said in March that a grand jury did not find probable cause to charge anyone in the shooting. DHS has said Martinez was intoxicated and struck an agent with his car, prompting another agent to fire multiple shots through a side window at close range. But Martinez’s family and their attorneys have disputed that account, and Garcia and Casar wrote that released video footage does not appear to show Martinez rapidly accelerating or intentionally ramming an agent, as DHS had claimed.Article continues below this adGarcia, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, and Casar, a committee member, asked Cuffari whether DHS’s inspector general already has an open investigation into the shooting and, if so, whether it is a criminal or administrative inquiry. They also asked whether the office has referred the case to ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility.The lawmakers requested written answers and a briefing by April 6, 2026, and asked to be notified when the investigation is complete, provided a copy of any report and told of any disciplinary or corrective action taken.