South Padre Island, Texas - The Department of Homeland Security reportedly failed to disclose the killing of a 23-year-old US citizen by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in March last year.

23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez was reportedly shot and killed by an ICE agent during a late-night traffic encounter in which DHS claims he intentionally hit an officer with his vehicle.

While the shooting was initially reported by local news outlets, neither federal nor state authorities publicly disclosed the incident, which involved a Homeland Security Investigations team that was working alongside local police.

The discovery was only made when ICE was forced to release internal records after a Freedom of Information Act request by watchdog American Oversight.

In a statement on Friday, DHS claimed Martinez "intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent." In response, an agent fired "defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public."

Martinez was reportedly visiting the island to celebrate his 23rd birthday at the time and had traveled there with his best friend from San Antonio.

The specific circumstances surrounding Martinez's death are still unclear, but it comes in the wake of the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by DHS agents in January and the earlier shooting of Renee Nicole Good.

In both cases, the Trump administration accused the victims of being domestic terrorists and claimed that they were attempting to attack immigration officers. Footage of the killings disproved these allegations.

"These records paint a deeply troubling picture of the violent methods used by ICE," said Chioma Chukwu, the executive director of American Oversight.

"In just the first months of this administration, ICE's own data shows a dramatic spike of nearly 400% in use-of-force incidents – with people hospitalized, bystanders swept up in operations, and even the death of a US citizen."