Texas Border Business
AUSTIN, TX – Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez sent a renewed list of open records requests to the Texas Department of Public Safety, demanding answers on the 2025 shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez and details on the agency’s collaboration with federal agencies.
“Long before Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed by ICE, there was Ruben Ray Martinez. For a year, the Texas Department of Public Safety covered up the shooting death of this young man at the hands of an ICE agent. The cruelty that is being exerted on U.S. citizens and immigrants alike is purely un-American,” said Senator Gutierrez.
“There must be a full account of the Texas Department of Public Safety’s involvement in immigration enforcement. We must know what the federal government is telling them to do and what they are doing. We cannot have cops running wild harassing and killing people because of their political leanings or the color of their skin.”
This is the second open records request issued by Senator Gutierrez in a week. Last week, Gutierrez sent an open records request inquiring about the targeting of Latinos and immigrant children in Texas DPS’ immigration enforcement efforts. Texas DPS responded, claiming that there were “no documents responsive” to the inquiry.
Senator Gutierrez has demanded in a second Open Records Request that Texas DPS provide the following information:
· Any and all documents concerning DPS’ immigration enforcement strategies within the last 180 days;
· Any and all communications from, to, or between DPS and the United States Department of Homeland Security (OHS) or any federal agency within OHS concerning immigration enforcement strategies in Texas within the last 180 days;
· Any and all communications from, to, or between DPS and the Office of the Governor of Texas concerning immigration enforcement strategies in Texas within the last 180 days;
· Any and all documents detailing immigration enforcement by DPS in the last two fiscal years, including but not limited to any report detailing DPS’ immigration enforcement statistics; and,
· Any and all documents concerning the investigation of the death of Ruben Ray Martinez.
Senator Gutierrez’s open records request to DPS can be read here.
Texas DPS’ response letter can be viewed here.
