In New Mexico’s Dona Ana County, former judge Joel Cano and his wife Nancy were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on charges of secretly harboring three wanted Venezuelan men in their home.
Last February, the Department of Homeland Security Investigations approved a search and then arrest warrant for the three men, alleging that they were part of the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua, based on the tattoos and clothes they wore and some photos with firearms posted on social media, and that they were living illegally in the Cano home.
According to the documents filed, one of the three wanted men explained that they already knew the Cano couple because they were in charge of the maintenance of the house and that they moved into the villa because they had been evicted from another apartment.
The former judge, who resigned in March and is now expelled was not just expelled, but the New Mexico Supreme Court issued a ruling permanently barring him from holding any judicial office in the state. He denied any allegations, said he had no knowledge of the men’s alleged ties to the criminal gang, and defended his decision to house them by claiming they had all the proper papers to stay. “The very first time I ever heard that the boys could possibly have any association with Tren de Aragua was when I was informed of that by [the] agents on the day of the raid,” he wrote in a 23-page letter submitted to the New Mexico Supreme Court. “I have three grandkids that I love dearly. Their ages are 15, 8 and 6. There is no way in the world that I would have allowed my grandkids to have any contact with the boys if I had sensed danger.”
