Summary

In a harsh example of Trump’s immigration crackdown, U.S. Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient Jose Barco faces deportation to Venezuela, despite serving in Iraq and suffering severe combat injuries.

After his citizenship application vanished during service and he served prison time for a violent offense linked to untreated trauma, ICE detained him upon release.

Venezuela won’t accept him, leaving him stateless.

Barco’s case spotlights the Trump administration’s punitive policies toward veterans, erosion of due process, and broader threats to constitutional rights under his increasingly authoritarian leadership.