A United States army veteran and Purple Heart recipient who served two tours in Iraq was deported to Mexico on Friday morning from an immigration detention facility in Florence, Arizona. Jose Barco, a Venezuelan-born veteran whose family fled Cuba as refugees, was removed from the country at 4am, according to Arizona state representative Raquel Terán.
Barco's legal team and family were not notified of the deportation plans. Anna Stout, a volunteer on his defence team, told Denver 7 that the process had been 'frustrating', and his family stated they had not received confirmation of his location as of Friday evening. Immigration enforcement confirmed to Fox 10 that Barco was deported to Nogales, Mexico, as previously ordered by a court to either Venezuela, Cuba or Mexico.
Barco, 39, served 15 years in prison for attempted murder after firing a gun at a house party in Colorado Springs in 2009, injuring a 19-year-old woman. He was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the time. He was released on parole in January 2024 due to good behaviour, but was immediately detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Barco enlisted in the army at 17 and served two tours in Iraq, where he was injured by an improvised explosive device and awarded a Purple Heart and a Combat Infantry Badge. Despite submitting paperwork for citizenship during his military career, his application was never processed for unknown reasons. His legal team says his former commander attested to helping him complete and submit the application.
Barco's father was a political dissident in Cuba who spoke out against communism, forcing the family to flee to Venezuela in the 1980s. Four years after Barco was born, his family entered the US with asylum and were granted lawful permanent resident status. An immigration judge denied Barco's relief appeals in September and ordered his removal.
