Democrat judge resigns after illegal alien gang member found at his home
A Democrat judge has resigned after federal agents arrested a member of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua at his home.
On February 28th, agents from Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant for the arrest of Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, a 23-year-old illegal alien with ties to Tren de Aragua. They found Ortega-Lopez at a home in Las Cruces owned by Judge Joel Cano, a magistrate for New Mexico’s Doña Ana County since 2011. Judge Cano shares ownership of the residence with his wife, Nancy.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, federal law enforcement agents also found four firearms at a neighboring home owned by Nancy’s daughter, April Cano. Court filings say Ortega-Lopez has admitted to possessing and firing the weapons.
Neither Judge Cano nor his wife commented on Ortega-Lopez’s arrest, but federal prosecutors allege the gang member was living at the Canos’ residence at their invitation. Nancy Cano reportedly met Ortega-Lopez while he was performing construction and handyman jobs and offered him residence on her property. One of the exhibits presented in court is a Facebook photo of Judge Cano and Ortega-Lopez posing together.
“Working with each of you has been a very rewarding experience for which I will remain eternally grateful,” Cano wrote in a resignation letter to 3rd Judicial District Chief Judge Conrad Perea and court staff on March 3rd, three days after Ortega-Lopez was arrested.
The resignation came amid a push by Democrat activist judges to prevent the Trump administration from deporting illegal aliens, including those with ties to violent gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13. Judge James Boasberg, for example, has threatened Trump officials with contempt unless they retrieve illegal alien gang members who were deported and return them to the United States.
Who are Tren de Aragua?
Tren de Aragua is a Venezuelan crime ring whose members are among approximately one million Venezuelans who have entered the United States illegally under the Biden administration. The gang maintains a presence across the United States, running sex and drug trafficking rings, money laundering operations, and other criminal enterprises.
The gang gained media attention earlier last year after one of its members allegedly murdered Laken Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia. José Antonio Ibarra, who illegally entered the United States in 2022, has been charged with Riley’s murder and with attempting to rape her.
Tren de Aragua has gained footholds in several major US cities, including New York, El Paso, San Antonio, Dallas, and Miami. In August, it was revealed that Tren de Aragua gang members had placed parts of the Denver suburb of Aurora under their brutal control. Armed squads have taken over entire apartment buildings by intimidating residents and subjecting victims to beatings and threats.
