OAN Staff Abril Elfi
10:54 AM – Friday, April 25, 2025
A former New Mexico judge and his wife have been arrested after housing an alleged Tren de Aragua (TdA) member.
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On Thursday, Former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano and his wife, Nancy Cano, were taken into custody after federal agents raided their Las Cruces home.
The couple is facing charges of evidence tampering amid allegations they housed Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, an illegal alien who is also alleged to be a member of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.
“Under President Trump, we have arrested over 150,000 aliens—including more than 600 members of the vicious Tren de Aragua gang,” said Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem. “If you are here illegally and break the law, we will hunt you down, arrest you and lock you up. That’s a promise.”
According to court documents, back in February, Ortega-Lopez was arrested at the Cano residence, where he was initially hired by Nancy for home repairs and was later offered accommodation in the couple’s guesthouse.
Authorities reportedly uncovered his link to the gang through “gang-related clothing, tattoos, voicemails and text messages.”
Court documents stated that Ortega-Lopez unlawfully entered the U.S. on December 15th, 2023, by crossing the border near Eagle Pass, Texas, without inspection or authorization.
However, he was released on December 18th, 2023, pending removal proceedings due to overcrowding at the Border Patrol facility. He was then issued a Notice to Appear, initiating formal removal proceedings under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Four weapons were seized from the home of April Cano, the couple’s daughter, following a further inquiry. Ortega-Lopez was discovered in social media photos posing with guns, some of which he claimed were possessed by April.
He is facing federal accusations for violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5) by possessing a firearm as an illegal alien. If convicted, he may serve up to 15 years in prison.
“Doña Ana County has been a hotbed of illegal immigration and drug trafficking, human smuggling for many, many years,” former ICE Field Office Director John Fabbricatore said to WPMI. “To see that a judge would allow this to happen. It’s very concerning. It’s concerning. What else has the judge been doing?”
Joel had resigned from his position as a judge in March. On Tuesday, the New Mexico Supreme Court issued a ruling permanently banning him from holding any judicial office in the state.
“The people of New Mexico are tired of a system where the powerful don’t play by their own rules,” Amy Barela, Chairwoman of the Republican Party of New Mexico, said to the Las Cruces Sun-News. “We demand real accountability for Judge Cano’s connection to a gang-affiliated criminal and full transparency on how our judiciary is being held to the same laws as the rest of us. Enough is enough.”
This comes a day before a former Wisconsin judge was also arrested Wednesday for allegedly helping an illegal migrant evade ICE agents in her courtroom, FBI Director Kash Patel announced.
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