Trump's DHS kills again--this time a US citizen and a blind immigrant

This is all Trump!

Shah Alam and Ruben Ray Martinez

There are two reasons why Trump’s Department of Homeland (DHS) agents—be they ICE or Customs Border Patrol (CBP)—so easily kill people. First, they have been told by Donald Trump, JD Vance, Stephen Miller and others in the Trump regime that they are immune from criminal prosecution. And second, Trump, Vance, Miller and others have dehumanized immigrants—and even US citizens who oppose them—to the dangerous point that they don’t view them as human beings.

We are now seeing two more examples of this with their inhumanity towards a blind refugee that led to his death and the shooting death of another US citizen by ICE agents.

The most recent horrific case involves the death of Shah Alam, a 56-year-old Rohingya refugee in Buffalo, New York. Alam--who has only been in the United States since 2024—doesn’t speak English, is blind and per his family can’t use a cellphone nor does he know his family’s phone number.

Alam had been in the Buffalo county jail since 2025 due to a reported misunderstanding when Shah wandered onto private property while carrying a curtain rod he had purchased as a walking stick due to his impaired vision. When Alam did not follow police commands to drop his curtain rod, they tasered and beat him, his attorney said.

Recently, a misdemeanor plea deal was reached with Alam being released from the Erie County prison. But Erie County sheriff John Garcia-a Republican official and peddler of Trump’s anti-immigrant BS—saw that ICE had placed a hold (known as a detainer) on Shah which lead to him contacting DHS to grab Alam upon his release.

But Garcia was wrong. Given Alam was a refugee he was not to be held or deported—as Trump’s CBP agents soon confirmed after taking custody. This is where the Trump regime’s inhumanity led to Alam’s death.

CBP knew that Alam didn’t speak English, they knew he was blind, they even knew he had a lawyer given they just picked him up from prison. Add to that the CBP’s statement admits they knew where Alam lived, noting they dropped him at “a location near his last known address.” (A random coffee shop miles from his house,)

Well then why not drop him at his actual last address?! Or why not simply make a phone call to his family or lawyer!? As Alam’s son told the press, “Nobody told me or my family or attorney where my dad was dropped off.”

Shortly thereafter the family filed a missing person’s report when their father could not be located. But sadly he was discovered days later dead. The exact circumstances surrounding his death are still unclear.

But imagine dropping off a blind man alone, who doesn’t speak English, who can’t use a normal cellphone, miles from his home at a random location in the freezing Buffalo winter and not contact his family?! That is what the Trump regime did because people of color are not humans to them!

Thankfully, officials in New York are demanding answers. Bufalo Mayor Sean Ryan noted in a statement, “A vulnerable man − nearly blind and unable to speak English − was left alone on a cold winter night with no known attempt to leave him in a safe, secure location,” He added, “That decision from U.S. Customs and Border Protection was unprofessional and inhumane.”

And NY Gov. Kathy Hochul has slammed this incident writing, “CBP released a blind father from custody and left him to find his way home alone. He never made it.” She added, “New Yorkers deserve answers and accountability.”

Then there is the case of ICE murdering a US citizen in March 2025—yes, a year ago but they covered up their involvement from the public until it was recently discovered by American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog group. This case involves Ruben Ray Martinez who had just celebrated his 23^rd birthday days before. Martinez and his friend Joshua Orta were on a trip on South Padre Island in Texas, when they approached local and federal officers directing traffic around a car accident.

At that point, ICE officers demanded the car driven by Martinez stop. Orta notes that Martinez was nervous seeing all the officers—who draw their weapons after Martinez did not stop as quickly as they wanted. At that point, DHS claims Martinez used his car as a weapon and “ran over” one of the officers. That is when an ICE officer fired point blank into the driver side window hitting Martinez three times, killing him. (One officer was treated for a minor knee injury and released within hours from the hospital.)

What makes this shooting so suspicious is Martinez had no criminal record, worked at Amazon and was a U.S. citizen. As his mother told the NY Times about her late son, “He was a good kid. He doesn’t have a criminal history,” adding, “He never got in trouble. He was never violent.”

In addition, the passenger Orta gave a statement to the media saying that Martinez didn’t hit any officer. Orta should be noted was just killed in a single car accident over the weekend when his vehicle hit a utility pole at a high rate of speed. (Yes, it’s suspicious.)

On Wednesday, a Texas grand jury rejected charges against the officers for killing Martinez. But of course the grand jury is run by prosecutors who can show as little or as much evidence as they want. The idea that a prosecutor in Texas would sincerely prosecute an ICE agent in this current climate is laughable.

Both of these cases are interconnected given the climate Trump has created. Same goes for why in 2025 saw the most deaths in ICE custody in more than 20 years. And in 2026, it’s worse with nearly one person dying each week in ICE custody.

The circumstances surrounding some of these deaths demand investigations, especially the recent case of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a Cuban immigrant and father of four. At first, ICE claimed he died from suicide. But a witness told The Associated Press last week that Lunas Campos was handcuffed by at least five guards, who then held him down while one put an arm around his neck until he was unconscious. Backing that up is an autopsy report by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office that found Lunas Campos’ body showed signs of a struggle, including abrasions on his chest and knees. The medical examiner determined the cause of death was asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.

This is not an isolated incident. There are mounting complaints of the inhumanity of these ICE camps including rotten and insufficient food, unclean drinking water, sewage flooding and “inadequate” medical care.

All of this--from the death of the blind Shah Alam to the killing of U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez to the suspicious death of Geraldo Lunas Campos to the inhumane ICE death camps—are all tied to Trump’s dehumanization of migrants and all who look like migrants. Please understand that the system is working exactly as Trump and the GOP planned it.

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