[ May 2, 2026 ]
New Mexico Judge Joel Cano resigned from the bench after an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member, Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, was arrested at his home.
🚨 JUST IN: Former judge Joel Cano, known for his far-left courtroom rulings in the New Mexico court system, has received a LIFETIME BAN from the bench following the arrest of a dangerous gang member the he was harboring in his home. pic.twitter.com/PQwrPoy9YZ
— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) April 23, 2025
Judge Juan Cano (D) was just busted with a Tren de Aragua gang member staying in his house pic.twitter.com/EKGvFsi8Oh
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 21, 2025
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Dem Judge Joel Cano banned by New Mexico Supreme Court after alleged Tren de Aragua gang member arrested in his home
By Daryl Khan, NY Post, April 23, 2025:
A Democratic New Mexico judge who had an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member living in his home has been permanently banned from the bench by his colleagues, according to state Supreme Court documents.
Jose “Joel” Cano resigned in March after agents from the US Department of Homeland Security arrested suspected TdA gang member Cristhian Ortega-Lopez at Cano’s home in February.
The discipline handed down by the Supreme Court of New Mexico makes it so Cano “can never hold a judicial office again, be a candidate for a judicial office, and cannot exercise any judicial authority in the state.”
The ban even prohibits Cano from officiating at weddings in the state.
ADVERTISEMENTOrtega-Lopez, 23, was arrested during a Homeland Security raid at the former Doña Ana County Magistrate judge’s on Feb. 28.
The feds also seized four firearms from Cano’s daughter’s home after getting search warrants related to social media evidence of Ortega-Lopez’s alleged ties to Tren de Aragua.
Investigators found pictures on social media of the Venezuelan national eating dinner with Cano’s family and posing for Christmas pictures in 2024. Cano is wearing a cowboy hat and a bolo tie, Ortega-Lopez is wearing a classic New York Yankees baseball cap and a collared shirt that conceals his neck tattoos, the very tattoos that investigators say reveal his gang affiliation.
Cano resigned on March 3 — and made no mention of Ortega-Lopez in his letter.
“Working with each of you has been a very rewarding experience for which I will remain eternally grateful,” Cano wrote. “All the best to everyone of you. I wish all of you a happy retirement once you are ready yourself.”
Alleged Tren de Aragua gang member Cristhian Ortega-Lopez seen holding a gun at a gun range 4
Cristhian Ortega-Lopez has been linked to the Tren de Aragua gang by ICE officials. U.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementCano’s link to Ortega-Lopez, who illegally entered the US in 2023 but was released from a US Customs and Border Patrol facility because of overcrowding, was first revealed in court documents seeking to keep the immigrant in detention.
He had climbed over a barbed-wire fence near Eagle Pass, Texas, and copped to illegally entering the US, the documents said.
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Continued…..
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