The cover-up of the killing of a US citizen by ICE
Editor’s Note: The following article was originally published by Sheri Lochner Marlom Portillo on La Talacha’s Substack on August 3, 2026 . If you would like to subscribe to their Substack please click here.
Why do we know more about the ICE murders of white U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and nothing about the murder of Rubén Ray Martínez? He was also a U.S. citizen killed by ICE (3/25/25), almost a year before Good and Pretti.
Why was his death covered up by ICE? The killing of Martínez by ICE agents was only revealed when a public records request made by the watchdog group, “American Oversight”, was published (2/26/26), almost a year after his death.
Martínez was a young 23-year-old man from San Antonio, Texas. Ruben and his friend Joshua Orta went down to South Padre Island, a popular spring break destination, to spend a weekend with friends.
On their return to their accommodation on the island, Ruben and Joshua encountered a traffic accident and were redirected by law enforcement. Homeland Security Investigations and Texas Game Wardens attended the scene. Why was a federal agency attending a traffic accident? Because Texas law enforcement cooperates with ICE under the 287(g) program.
The sequence of events following their interaction with law enforcement is pieced together from video surveillance, bodycam footage, witness statements, and reports.
Joshua recalls Ruben slowed the car to navigate away from the scene. Ruben had an open bottle of alcohol and did not want to be pulled over. Ruben continued driving and slowly turned onto a side street, where he stopped. ICE agents approached their car.
The ICE incident report states Martínez accelerated his car and struck an agent, prompting another officer to fire defensive shots, resulting in his death, a similar fate to that of Renee Good.
However, footage from police body cameras and Joshua’s eyewitness account contradicts ICE claims. The footage shows ICE agents standing in front of Martínez’s car as it slowly moves forward and to the left.
The last words Joshua Orta heard his best friend utter were “I’m sorry.” Then Martínez slumped back in the driver’s seat. An officer had fired repeatedly through the open window, piercing Ruben’s heart.
Joshua witnessed the officers drag Ruben out of his car onto the roadway, where they handcuffed him while he appeared unconscious, according to body camera footage.
Ruben’s mother, Rachel Rayes, was informed of her son’s death by a Texas State Trooper. He told her that there had been an accident and Ruben went down a lane that he wasn’t supposed to and “tapped” an office with his car, and that an officer shot Ruben.
According to a report by The Texas Tribune, Ruben’s mother apologised to the trooper, saying she was so sorry and asked if the officer had been hurt. The trooper replied that the officer was fine.
It was almost a year later that Rachel and Joshua learned that Ruben had been shot by ICE agent, Jack Stevens. This revelation gravely affected Joshua, and severely impacted his mental health. Tragically, Joshua also died in a car accident hours after learning about ICE’s involvement in his friend’s death.
A Cameron County, Texas grand jury ruled Martínez’s shooting “a justifiable homicide.” According to attorneys for Ruben Martínez’s family, videos confirm that Ruben’s car was barely moving when he was shot and he was braking, not accelerating. There was no one on the hood of his car or in front of his car when he was shot at point-blank range through the side window of his car by an ICE agent, Jack Stevens.
That Ruben and, by extension, Joshua are victims of ICE’s brutal tactics is deplorable.
We all should be deeply worried about state violence and terror. We all should be worried about the death of our democracy. We all should be worried about the violations of human rights that go hand in hand with dehumanisation.
We can not be silent. We will never forget them! No to impunity and pardon! Persecute the killer, Jack Stevens.
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