A New Mexico judge tendered his resignation last month after immigration authorities detained a suspect with alleged ties to the Tren de Aragua in his home during a late February raid.
Federal agents at the Department of Homeland Security had raided former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Jose “Joel” Cano’s home on Feb. 28 and arrested 23-year-old Venezuelan national Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, court documents reveal.
Authorities also confiscated four firearms from the Cano’s daughter’s residence, which they conducted after obtaining search warrants in response to social media evidence of Ortega-Lopez’s ties to Tren de Aragua, the ruthless Venezuelan prison gang.
Cano, a Democrat who served as a judge since 2011, made no mention of the arrest in his resignation letter, which came days later on March 3.
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“Working with each of you has been a very rewarding experience for which I will remain eternally grateful,” Cano wrote in his resignation letter obtained by The Post. “All the best to everyone of you. I wish all of you a happy retirement once you are ready yourself.”
Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Jose “Joel” Cano stepped down days after the alleged Venezuelan gangbanger was caught living in his home. Donaanademocrats
A spokesperson for New Mexico’s Administrative Office of the Courts explained that the state supreme court and the Third Judicial District Court, where Cano was based,” did not receive his resignation until March 31.
Revelations about the alleged gangbanger living in Cano’s residence were first made in court documents seeking to keep Ortega-Lopez in detention. The story has since gained traction in local media, including the Albuquerque Journal newspaper.
Ortega-Lopez began interacting with Cano’s family a little over a year ago after helping the judge’s wife install a glass door and doing other odd jobs for her.
Cristhian Ortega-Lopez fessed up to illegally entering the US in 2023. Obtained by Ny Post
By April of last year, he was booted from his apartment in El Paso that he shared with five others, which prompted Nancy Cano, the judge’s wife, to offer him lodging in the “casita” of their home in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
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During his stay, Ortega-Lopez seemingly began to bond with the judge’s daughter, April Cano, “who possessed a large number of firearms” and let him hold onto some of them, per court records.
Ortega-Lopez, who illegally entered the US in 2023 but was released from a US Customs and Border Patrol facility due to overcrowding, admitted that he knew he wasn’t allowed to possess firearms due to his status as an illegal immigrant.
He had climbed over a barbed-wire fence near Eagle Pass, Texas, and copped to illegally entering the US, per court documents.
Authorities had received a tip about Ortega-Lopez and found images of him on social media with tattoos, with clothing and making hand gestures “commonly associated” with Tren de Aragua, court filings claim.
Prosecutors attached images of Ortega-Lopez’s tattoos and other evidence they are leaning on to accuse him of affiliation with Tren de Aragua.
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Cristhian Ortega-Lopez posing with a firearm as pictured in court documents. U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
“The Defendant is a danger to the community because he is a member of the United States designated Foreign Terrorist Organization Tren de Aragua and regularly associates with other members,” they wrote in a filing to keep him detained.
Ortega-Lopez was arrested alongside three other Venezuelan illegal migrants as part of an operation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations.
The Post was unable to make contact with Joel Cano for comment.
“The governor will appoint someone to fill the vacancy through the remainder of the judge’s unexpired four-year term that runs until the end of 2026,” New Mexico’s Administrative Office of the Courts spokesperson Barry Massey told the Post.
“Magistrate court judges are elective positions and they will be on the ballot in 2026.”
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Ortega-Lopez is charged with being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm or ammunition. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years behind bars, according to the Justice Department.
SANTA FE, N.M. — A federal judge has dismissed part of a lawsuit that accused police of violating constitutional protections when they fatally shot a man after showing up at the wrong address in response to a domestic violence call.
The shooting of Robert Dotson, 52, in the northwestern New Mexico city of Farmington prompted a civil lawsuit by his family members, though public prosecutors found there was no basis to pursue criminal charges against officers after a review of events. The suit alleged that the family was deprived of its civil rights and officers acted unreasonably.
Hearing a knock at the door late on April 5, 2023, Dotson put on a robe, went downstairs and grabbed a handgun before answering. Police outside shined a flashlight as Dotson appeared and raised the firearm before three police officers opened fire, killing him. Dotson did not shoot.
“Ultimately, given the significant threat Dotson posed when he pointed his firearm at officers … the immediacy of that threat, the proximity between Dotson and the defendant officers, and considering that the events unfolded in only a few seconds, the court finds that the defendant officers reasonably applied deadly force,” U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Garcia said in a written court opinion.
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The judge also said the officers were entitled under the circumstances to qualified immunity — special legal protections that prevent people from suing over claims that police or government workers violated their constitutional rights.
The opinion was published May 15 — the same day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in a separate case that courts should weigh the totality of circumstances and not just a “moment of threat” when judging challenges to police shootings under the Fourth Amendment.
Tom Clark, one of the Dotson family’s attorneys, said the lawsuit against Farmington police will move forward on other claims under tort law and provisions of the New Mexico Civil Rights Act, which limits immunity for police and other government agencies.
Defense attorneys said in court filings that the officers acted reasonably under “the totality of circumstances,” noting that they repeatedly knocked and announced that police had arrived and saying Dotson “posed an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to police.”
Philip Stinson, a professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, said Tuesday that court evaluations of police immunity in shootings “sometimes lead to results that end up leaving you scratching your head.”
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“Here the court is saying the police made a mistake — but in that moment they were confronted with a decision to use deadly force,” he said. “I don’t think this is the last word in this case.”
Lawyers for Dotson’s family emphasized that police were at the wrong address and that he was likely blinded by the flashlight with little inkling that police were there. They said officers did not give him sufficient time to comply with commands as an officer shouted, “Hey, hands up.”
According to the lawsuit, Dotson’s wife, wearing only a robe, came downstairs after hearing the shots and found her husband lying in the doorway. She fired outside, not knowing who was out there. Police fired 19 rounds but missed her.
New Mexico state leaders know the best way to get more kids to graduate is to get more of them to go to school every day, and that means giving students a reason to show up.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico state leaders know the best way to get more kids to graduate is to get more of them to go to school every day, and that means giving students a reason to show up.
State lawmakers are hoping to do just that with a new, modernized set of high school graduation requirements focused on teaching kids the skills they need to thrive in the real world.
“I think it could have a huge impact, and I hope that it will,” said Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Gabriella Blakey.
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Blakey says the state’s new high school graduation requirements are not a one-size-fits all approach, and that’s the point.
“It’s really connecting students to like why they go to school, and really finding what their own passions and interests are, and not making every student’s career path in high school look the same,” said Blakey.
Students will still be required to earn 24 total credits, including four units of English, and four units of math. Although, Algebra 2 will no longer be required to graduate.
“We have opened up opportunities for students to make wise choices about their career and make wise choices about their interests and strengths in order to support a really strong mathematics pathway through their four years of high school,” said Amanda Debell, deputy secretary of the Public Education Department.
Students will still need three units of science, and four units of social studies, which must include some type of financial literacy coursework.
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“So students are learning when it’s appropriate time about money and their financial lives, post and during high school, because many of them are earning money now,” said Debell.
There are still PE and health class requirements, but the biggest change is coming to the electives. Individual school districts will get to decide on two credit requirements for their students based on local input.
“For example, we see districts offering more agricultural type electives because they are in an agricultural area, or we see additional language courses being added as a requirement,” Debell said.
Giving New Mexico’s students more power over their future.
“By being able to open up these credits in this way, we’re really able to tailor a more personalized environment for our students. And our students really tell us that that’s what they want,” said Blakey.
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The incoming freshman class, the Class of 2029, will be the first class to graduate under these new requirements.
PED leaders say districts will have to decide on those extra two credits in the next few weeks.
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – May 19, 2025 – The Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands will implement Stage 1 Fire Restrictions on all National Forest System (NFS) lands in the Magdalena Ranger District as described per order 03-03-03-25-08 and as shown on the attached map.
This Order shall be in effect from Thursday May 22, 2025 at 8:00 AM through Thursday July 31, 2025 at 2359, unless rescinded.
The purpose of this Order for Stage 1 Fire Restrictions is to reduce the risk of human-caused wildfires during periods of high fire danger and severe fire weather conditions.
