What’s Being Kept Secret:
- A sitting New Mexico judge was harboring a member of the deadly Tren de Aragua gang inside his home.
- Judge Joel Cano, a former cop, is seen in selfies with alleged gang members while holding a beer, flashing the peace sign.
- The DOJ is reportedly probing Cano’s recent cases, as accusations of bias and potential misuse of his judicial authority intensify.
A Judge, a Gang, and a National Security Nightmare
By Samuel Lopez – USA Herald
NEW MEXICO – The quiet courtroom of Division 6 in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, will remain silent. Not because of scheduled recess or court renovation—but because the judge who presided over it, Joel Cano, abruptly resigned. His resignation comes amid a rapidly unfolding scandal that has already sent shockwaves through the state’s judicial system and triggered inquiries by federal law enforcement.
Judge Joel Cano—a Democrat, former police officer, and 1975 graduate of Las Cruces High School—did not simply retire. He disappeared from public view after federal agents arrested a suspected member of the notoriously violent Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua (TDA), inside Cano’s own home.
The arrested individual, 23-year-old Cristhian Ortega-López, had been previously paroled due to overcrowding after entering the U.S. illegally through Eagle Pass, Texas, in December 2023. Yet instead of fading into obscurity, he somehow ended up living with a state judge—even using Cano’s home address for immigration paperwork.
The optics alone raise national security alarms. But the story gets far more disturbing.
