Former Doña Ana County Justice of the Peace Decide Joel Cano and his spouse, Nancy Cano, have been taken into custody Thursday after federal brokers raided their Las Cruces house.
The 2 face costs of proof tampering amid allegations they harbored Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, an alleged unlawful alien who can be believed to be a member of Venezuela’s infamous Tren de Aragua gang.
“Below President Trump, we have now arrested over 150,000 aliens—together with greater than 600 members of the vicious Tren de Aragua gang,” mentioned Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.
“If you’re right here illegally and break the legislation, we’ll hunt you down, arrest you and lock you up. That’s a promise.”
The arrest follows a February incident the place Ortega-Lopez was apprehended on the Cano residence.
Court docket paperwork reveal that he was initially employed by Nancy Cano for house repairs and later supplied lodging within the couple’s guesthouse.
Investigators uncovered proof linking Ortega-Lopez to the Tren de Aragua gang, together with gang-related clothes, tattoos, voicemails and textual content messages.
In accordance with courtroom paperwork, he unlawfully entered the U.S. on Dec. 15, 2023, by crossing the border close to Eagle Move, Texas, with out inspection or authorization.
He was launched on Dec. 18, 2023, pending elimination proceedings attributable to overcrowding on the Border Patrol facility.
He was issued a Discover to Seem, initiating formal elimination proceedings below the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Additional investigation led to the seizure of 4 firearms from the residence of April Cano, the couple’s daughter.
Ortega-Lopez was present in social media posts posing with weapons, a few of which he claimed have been owned by April.
He’s presently going through federal costs for being an unlawful alien in possession of a firearm, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5).
If convicted, he faces as much as 15 years in jail.
“Doña Ana County has been a hotbed of unlawful immigration and drug trafficking, human smuggling for a lot of, a few years,” former ICE Area Workplace Director John Fabbricatore mentioned to WPMI.
“To see {that a} decide would permit this to occur. It’s very regarding. It’s regarding. What else has the decide been doing?”
Decide Cano resigned from his judicial place in March and on Tuesday, the New Mexico Supreme Court docket issued a ruling completely barring him from holding any judicial workplace within the state.
“The individuals of New Mexico are uninterested in a system the place the highly effective don’t play by their very own guidelines,” Amy Barela, Chairwoman of the Republican Social gathering of New Mexico, mentioned to the Las Cruces Solar-Information.
“We demand actual accountability for Decide Cano’s connection to a gang-affiliated felony and full transparency on how our judiciary is being held to the identical legal guidelines as the remainder of us. Sufficient is sufficient.”
Homeland Safety Investigations continues to guide the case, KFOX reported.
Fox Information’ Pilar Arias contributed to this report.
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