Former magistrate judge pushes back on Tren de Aragua claims

LAS CRUCES — Former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano defended himself and criticized the arrest of three Venezuelan men at his home in a blistering 23-page response last month to an inquiry by the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission.

Two separate disciplinary inquiries into Cano were unsealed Tuesday after the state Supreme Court canceled oral arguments that had been scheduled for Thursday. Cano resigned from the bench in March with the stipulation that he would never again seek judicial office or exercise judicial authority in New Mexico. The order halted further disciplinary proceedings.

The JSC, an independent agency that investigates alleged misconduct by state court judges, took action days after federal agents executed search warrants at his Las Cruces home and the neighboring home owned by his daughter, April Cano, on Feb. 28. Agents subsequently arrested three men who had immigration cases pending.

A complaint alleged that Cano had committed willful misconduct in office by allowing them to live on his property, and had permitted them access to firearms.

The search warrants resulted in a federal weapons charge against Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, 23, based on social media posts showing him holding and firing various weapons, including a video where Cano is present and holds a rifle that is passed to him.

The three men are all accused of being members of the transnational gang known as Tren de Aragua, an accusation that has been the basis for hundreds of men being rendered to an El Salvadoran prison by the Trump administration.

As in many of those cases, the men arrested at Cano’s home are accused of gang affiliation on the basis of their tattoos, apparel (including Chicago Cubs sportswear), emojis and alleged gang signs displayed in social media posts.

Additionally, a search of Ortega-Lopez’s phone uncovered text messages and a photograph of human corpses prosecutors say point to gang involvement.

Cano disputes evidence, describes raid

“I find these allegations to be highly sensationalized and without merit,” Cano wrote in his March 19 response.

Cano disputed references to the men as “known members” of the gang, arguing that they were fulfilling immigration procedures with federal agents, had undergone routine airport security procedures for travel, were frequently interviewed by Border Patrol officers at highway checkpoints and were pursuing authorization to work while their immigration cases were pending — all without ever being detained as gang members.

The first time Cano had heard of any association with Tren de Aragua, he wrote, was when “at least 45” agents, whom he described as wearing ski masks and sunglasses without badges or other visual identification, raided the two homes.

He denied that he had permitted the men to possess firearms, which would jeopardize their legal status in the U.S., admitting only to accompanying them on a December trip to a firing range.

Cano wrote that “the boys” had presented him and his wife, Nancy, with documentation about their pending immigration cases after initially meeting them in 2024, when they performed handyman work at their home. The Canos later allowed the trio to live in a detached studio apartment on their property and assisted them in complying with legal procedures and travel for court dates.

The response included details the men had presented about their journey to the U.S. over thousands of miles of terrain, including the notoriously dangerous Darién Gap at the Columbia-Panama border, where they said travelers were vulnerable to theft, rape and murder and claimed they had seen the bodies of murder victims out in the open.

Their relationship deepened as the guests participated in holidays, community events and volunteer work, becoming “a meaningful part of our extended family,” Cano wrote. “There is no way in the world that I would have allowed my grandkids to have any contact with the boys if I sensed danger.”

Cano argued the gang ties were speculations motivated by the Trump administration’s promise to execute mass deportations — a policy Cano criticized in blistering terms in his response.

“I cannot help but feel that the capture of these boys is just another unfortunate addition to the current nationwide effort to apprehend, detain and deport anyone not born in the U.S.,” he wrote.

Judge barred from serving again

Cano, 67, was first elected to the bench as a Democrat in 2010. Previously, he had been an officer with the Las Cruces Police Department for nearly 23 years. As a judge, Cano had chaired the county’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and presided over the Magistrate Court’s DWI/Drug Court program.

The other inquiry unsealed Tuesday addressed findings of judicial misconduct pertaining to matters in Cano’s courtroom.

The JSC found that Cano had inappropriately sought information about an internal investigation into a State Police officer; submitted a response to an appeal in which he disparaged a local defense attorney’s reputation; failed to recuse himself when that appeal was remanded to his court; and made a false statement during proceedings in another case.