Fort Carson Purple Heart recipient José Barco deported to Mexico — a country he’s never been to

DENVER — José Barco, an Army veteran detained by ICE earlier this year the moment walked out of the Colorado State Penitentiary, was deported to Mexico Friday, Nov. 14, according to his family.

“He is currently in Mexico, and he is safe,” his family said in a statement Wednesday.

“Not knowing where José was, or whether he was safe, has been one of the most painful experiences we have gone through. Hearing his voice and knowing he is alive and safe has brought us a sense of relief we desperately needed.”

Barco had been in ICE custody since January of this year. He was detained in at least six different detention centers. In April, ICE tried to deport him to Venezuela, where he was born, but Venezuelan officials turned Barco away because his birth certificate looked like a forgery.

Barco, a Purple Heart recipient who served two tours in Iraq, is not an American citizen. He applied for citizenship between tours in the summer of 2006 while he was stationed at Colorado’s Fort Carson, and his commanding officer, Lt. Col. Michael Hutchinson, helped him complete his application.

“At some point the packet was lost and we have not been able to find a chain of custody document," Hutchinson wrote in a memo to federal immigration officials.

While serving in Iraq in 2004, a car bomb explosion injured Barco and killed a member of his platoon. He suffered a brain injury and struggled with PTSD after the attack.

In 2009, a jury found Barco guilty of attempted murder after he opened fire at a Colorado Springs house party. He was released from prison after serving 15 years, but immigration agents immediately detained him.  

Barco has no connection to Mexico, and he has never even visited the country, his family said. 

Earlier this year, his wife, Tia Barco, told Rocky Mountain PBS that if her husband were to be deported, she hoped it would be Mexico because the health care and quality of life would be better than Venezuela.

You can read our original story on José Barco’s case here.