Dem Judge Resigns After Harboring Alleged Tren De Aragua Gang Member

A New Mexico Democrat judge harbored an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member in his home, where the illegal immigrant was arrested on February 28.

Magistrate Judge Jose “Joel” Cano announced his resignation on March 3, the same day that Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, 23, who has alleged ties to the Tren de Aragua gang in Venezuela, appeared before a judge on charges of being an unlawful alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Ortega-Lopez was accused of illegal entry to the United States near Eagle Pass, Texas. He spent three days in Border Patrol custody before he was released because of overcrowded facilities at the Border Patrol’s South Laredo, Texas, processing center, according to court records, the Albuquerque Journal reported. He met Cano’s wife, Nancy, in El Paso, where he was working as a construction worker and handyman, and she offered for him to stay in a small house behind hers.

According to prosecutors, April Cano, the Canos’ daughter who owned a home near her parents, “possessed a large number of firearms” and “allowed him to hold and sometimes shoot various firearms.”

“Cano, a former police officer, allowed Ortega-Lopez to file a request for immigration relief using the judge’s residential address. Court exhibits also posted social media posts of the foreign national posing with the judge,” Breitbart reported, adding, “Social media posts obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico showed Ortega-Lopez and other illegal aliens at a shooting range. They appeared to be in possession of multiple firearms and a large quantity of handgun and rifle ammunition. … The photos and videos showed Ortega-Lopez displaying Tren de Aragua gang tattoos.”

“Other images from Ortega-Lopez’s cell phone obtained by Breitbart showed graphic images of multiple decapitated and mutilated bodies,” Breitbart noted.

Last month, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation regarding Tren de Aragua in which he stated:

Tren de Aragua (TdA) is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization with thousands of members, many of whom have unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States. TdA operates in conjunction with Cártel de los Soles, the Nicolas Maduro regime-sponsored, narco-terrorism enterprise based in Venezuela, and commits brutal crimes, including murders, kidnappings, extortions, and human, drug, and weapons trafficking. TdA has engaged in and continues to engage in mass illegal migration to the United States to further its objectives of harming United States citizens, undermining public safety, and supporting the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing democratic nations in the Americas, including the United States.