AURORA, Colo. — Sitting inside of the Aurora ICE Processing Center is a man who served this country, a man who served his time and a man who embodies a national debate surrounding immigration and deportation.
The federal government wants to deport Sgt. Jose Barco due to a violent conviction from his past. However, the country where he was born refuses to take him.
Those who do not want Barco deported believe injuries sustained during his service in the United States Army are directly connected to his criminal conviction.
A spokesperson with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said essentially, an immigration judge ordered Barco to be removed, and ICE is "working to enact the judge's order as is our mission." Beyond that, the spokesperson declined to comment on Barco's case.
Denver7 spoke with advocates who want to keep Barco in the country, an attorney who prosecuted his criminal case, and his wife to better understand the intricacies of his story.
Barco's next hearing is scheduled for Monday, August 11, in Aurora Immigration Court. His team told Denver7 this is likely the day that decides his fate, and our reporter Colette Bordelon plans to attend the hearing.
His timeline
Jose Barco was born in Venezuela to parents of Cuban descent. His legal team said Barco has "no meaningful ties" to Venezuela and has considered America his home since he was young.
His wife, Tia Barco, said the couple has been married for 15 years. They met in Colorado Springs and now share a teenage daughter.
"We instantly started joking together. So it was almost like, from day one, we were inseparable," Tia Barco said.
According to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Notice to Appear document provided to Denver7, Jose Barco was admitted into the United States via Miami, Florida, on Aug. 31, 1990.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) has a number of different ways a person can obtain lawful permanent resident status, otherwise known as having a green card. Jose had an RE6 classification, used for refugees.
After serving in the U.S. Army, Jose was convicted of a felony in 2009. Jose was found guilty by a jury on two counts of attempted murder with extreme indifference and felony menacing, involving a real or simulated weapon. That's considered grounds for deportation.
He received a Notice to Appear from DHS on Jan. 21, 2025. President Donald Trump was inaugurated the day before.
Jose's legal team argues that Notice to Appear was not served properly.
In February of 2025, DHS and ICE submitted evidence in Jose's removal proceedings, which included his arrest warrant and arrest affidavit from El Paso County.
During a hearing on Feb. 12, 2025, DHS claims in a court filing that Jose requested a removal order to Venezuela and waived his right to appeal. His legal team claims he was not mentally competent to make such decisions.
That same month, an immigration judge decided Jose would be deported to Venezuela. He was first sent to an ICE Processing Center in Texas. Then Venezuela refused to accept Jose into the country, according to his legal team. The Venezuelan government denied Jose was a citizen and alleged his documents were fraudulent. Now, he is detained at the Aurora ICE Processing Center, formally known as the Denver Contract Detention Facility.
In April, an emergency motion from Jose's attorney asked the federal government to reopen and reconsider his deportation.
His attorney filed another motion asking for a temporary stay of removal or deportation be granted in the case. DHS opposed both motions, and Jose's legal team shared corresponding court documents with Denver7.
In April, Jose was granted a stay of removal until the court issued a ruling on the motion to reopen and reconsider his case. By the end of April, an immigration judge also granted the motion to reopen and reconsider his deportation case.
That motion, filed by Jose's pro-bono counsel, claims he "deserves far more from the United States than a removal order." It continues to state that Jose Barco is a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient, who "served honorably in multiple tours across active combat zones."
According to the filing, Jose lives with "severe mental illness and a traumatic brain injury sustained in the line of duty" and remains detained "while no country is willing to receive him."
A response from DHS acknowledges Barco's service and said the agency takes "very seriously the decision to place someone who served the country in the United States Army into immigration proceedings... However, the respondent would not currently be in proceedings if he had not shot at multiple people."
Jose's team said that statement from DHS "disregards the deeply rooted connection" between Jose's actions and his "untreated, service-connected mental illness."
Grand Junction City Council Member and former mayor of the city Anna Stout is volunteering her time with Barco's team as the political and communications strategy coordinator.
"There's the long-term political question, which is looking at, what does this mean for Jose? What does this mean for policy in our country?" Stout said. "Knowing what's happening with Jose and what's happened to over one hundred other veterans who have served our country and been deported — is this something that, from a policy perspective, we're going to let keep happening?"
Stout said Jose's case is incredibly nuanced and requires thoughtful consideration.
"Depending on who you are, depending on what your ideology is, it's very easy to look at it through a certain lens and say, 'This is an easy conclusion for me, he's a good guy. This is an easy conclusion for me, he's a bad guy,'" Stout explained.
For Stout, the question at the heart of this case is: "After we send young people overseas to fight for us, what do we do when they come home to support them?"
His service
When Jose Barco was 17 years old, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was deployed by the age of 18. He served two combat tours in Iraq and was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge and the Purple Heart for injuries sustained in battle, court documents show.
"He served this country, he bled for this country, and this country has ordered him removed," Stout said. "If he were a citizen, he would be getting out, he would be serving parole, and he would be going on with his life. Instead, he was paroled straight into ICE custody."
While deployed in Iraq, Jose experienced direct combat engagements and his attorney asserts many of those remain classified because of national security concerns.
Jose made a statement to his immigration judge, saying he was "injured by an improvised explosive device (VB-IED) in Iraq, which caused severe burns and a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Since then, I have never been the same."
U.S. Army Ret. Sgt. Ryan Krebbs served as the combat medic for Jose's platoon from 2003 to 2006. He wrote a letter to the judge on Jose's immigration case in support of Jose.
Krebbs sat down with Denver7 to explain, in part, what happened in Iraq.
"[Jose] cared about the other guys and wanted to do his best for them. And a charismatic, funny guy," Krebbs said. "Definitely more like a brother, really. I mean, once you go to into experiences like that with somebody, it's more like a brotherhood."
Krebbs recalled the events of Nov. 11, 2004 as a difficult day to describe.
"We were hit by a car bomb, and that was the first time that Jose was wounded," Krebbs said. "The front end of the car was on fire, and it pinned him to the ground after it exploded, and Jose lifted it off of himself and the other soldiers while it was on fire... He was a hero that day on Veterans Day in 2004, for sure."
Krebbs believes Jose saved lives that day.
After his first tour, Jose returned to the front lines once again.
"I know the second tour is when another bomb went off. I wasn't there for that, but from what I understand, it went off near his head, and that did cause a severe brain injury," Krebbs said. "The biggest issue with the traumatic brain injuries, and it really depends on which part of the brain that it's affecting, but it can cause changes in behavior."
According to Jose's legal team, he was medically discharged from the Army due to injuries sustained in combat.
The filing from Jose's attorney claims he returned to the U.S. with "visible and invisible wounds" — including a traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and recurring flashbacks. Jose never received the comprehensive care he required, his counsel continued.
"Part of this is putting into context what we did and didn't know in the mid-2000s about things like traumatic brain injuries and PTSD," Stout said. "Effectively, what happened was his visible wounds were treated, and when it was time for his platoon to redeploy, Jose felt like he hadn't given enough. He felt like he had failed his platoon because he didn't finish out that first tour because he was brought back for medical treatment."
His lawyer argues the brain injury "significantly contributed" to the actions that led to his criminal conviction.
A response from DHS claims Jose never mentioned his past injuries or diagnoses during prior hearings, and asserts there were no signs that suggested mental competency concerns.
"The most recent hearing in Sergeant Barco's case was a competency hearing in which we were looking to have a judge determine whether or not, or to what extent, his combat injuries should have any bearing on his situation," Stout said. "Now, he was deemed competent, and it wasn't terribly surprising, right? That hearing was not expected to be one that just overturned the entire situation."
According to his legal team, Jose's mental health conditions are "directly connected" to his military service. "His symptoms were severe enough that the military deemed him unfit for continued service, and he was medically retired," the motion states.
"By the time he came back and was honorably discharged, he had not been made a citizen, and he also had not been made aware of what the implications of that were and and what it would take, or whether there was something else he could be doing to try to expedite that process," Stout said. "He simply didn't know that was something that would put him in this kind of risk."
Evidence that Jose's attorney submitted to the Aurora Immigration Court included a memorandum from Lieutenant Colonel Michael Hutchinson. He served as Jose's supervising officer in 2005 and Jose's company's executive officer in 2006. In those roles, Hutchinson claimed he was responsible for processing administrative paperwork for members of the unit.
"I distinctly remember Jose Barco completing and submitting his application for United States citizenship," Hutchinson wrote in the memorandum. "He was fully eligible... he should have been approved by the end of calendar year 2006."
At that time, Hutchinson said the Army still used hard copy documents. When Hutchinson left for Special Forces training, he said Jose's paperwork was in the "processing pipeline."
"At some point, his packet was lost and we have not been able to find a chain of custody document," Hutchinson wrote.
"For me, it's kind of insulting, as a veteran, to find out that guys, while they're deployed to a combat zone, their paperwork isn't going through for whatever reason," Krebbs said.
Hutchinson also submitted a statement in support of Jose that said, "it is heartbreaking and deeply unjust that a man who sacrificed so much for this country is now fighting to avoid removal to a country where he faces grave danger, inadequate medical care, and more likely than not, persecution."
"If Sergeant Barco's naturalization application that he submitted in 2006 had been processed — as we promise people who go to war and serve and risk their lives for us — if he had that application processed, we wouldn't be having this interview, because he would be a man, a U.S. citizen who has a past, who served his time, and who is now reintegrating as any other U.S. citizen would under parole supervision into society," Stout said.
Court filings from Jose's counsel state that during his time serving the Army on active duty, Jose was granted a security clearance, meaning he was investigated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Jose's attorney continued to say that only citizens are eligible for security clearances — submitting this as potential new evidence to suggest Jose was a citizen at that time.
DHS responded by saying there was no proof provided of a security clearance.
His crime
Dan May is the former district attorney for the 4th Judicial District, which prosecuted Jose's criminal case in Southern Colorado.
"In 2009 and around that period, we had a lot of soldiers returning from the Middle East who had been in combat zones. We had seen an uptick in some of the violence of some of the soldiers returning," May said. "I don't think the military was really prepared when we first started the wars out there, and Jose Barco was an example of that."
Denver7 obtained the arrest affidavit from Jose's criminal case out of Colorado Springs. The arrest papers detail a report of shots fired on April 25, 2008, and a vehicle that sped away from the scene. Someone in a car then dropped off a 19-year-old woman who had been shot in the leg at a hospital, the documents state.
According to officers with the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD), there was a confrontation at a house party when residents approached a man they did not know and asked why he was there. The CSPD report continues to say the man fired a round into the ceiling of the basement and was then forced outside by other people.
"At this point, he's not welcome at the party anymore, and people are telling him, 'You need to leave. This isn't a party for you.' And they get him out of the house, probably to their relief," May said.
Officers reported — based off interviews from the scene — the man who fired the gun left the home with two other people after a verbal altercation. Someone in a car then reportedly drove a car in front of the house and shot a gun between four and six times, hitting a young woman who was standing by the front door. The affidavit states there was a "significant number" of people outside of the home at the time of the shooting.
"Extremely dangerous situation, quite frankly — uncalled for, unexpected and could have killed several people. What he did do, is he hit a pregnant woman in the leg, shot her in the leg, and drove off," May said.
The suspect descriptions varied greatly in the arrest papers, but a partygoer identified Jose Barco as the shooter from a lineup of pictures.
"The whole issue of trial was identity. He was saying, 'You got the wrong guy. I didn't do it,'" May recounted the defense's argument during the trial. "They were saying, even if you know it's Jose Barco in the car, he's the driver and he's not the one shooting... It really doesn't matter if he's the driver or the shooter, because the driver clearly slowed down to let the person shooting, take the shots. And when you're working together, you're both guilty."
Ultimately, Jose Barco was convicted during the trial.
"That's my job, is to get that conviction. I think the other agencies or other groups interested in it have a legitimate reason to be interested in it. I don't think it's my job, number one, to hide this person's background," May said. "The United States has legitimate reason of who should be in this country and whether they should be deported or not, and it isn't my job to hide things from them or manipulate that because they're going through their due process, and there's nothing wrong with that."
Jose Barco's legal team argues he was suffering from a mental health crisis at the time of the crime.
"Jose is not alone in this. Several soldiers from my old unit have been to prison for similar things. Some of them are in there for murder," Krebbs said.
Jose was sentenced to just over 50 years behind bars for two counts of attempted murder. Tia Barco said it was a shock.
"It was almost like feeling like somebody died, but they're still alive," Tia Barco said. "I do believe it was a mistake, a consequence of what he's been through as far as combat."
Jose got his sentence reduced in 2014. He was set to be released early from prison in January of this year under certain conditions, including treatment for his TBI and PTSD, the filing from Jose's attorney states.
"I want to make sure that it's clear that nobody — nobody on his team, nobody in his corner — is excusing the events that led to him serving time in the Department of Corrections. We definitely, though, think it's important to have the conversation," Stout said. "As we're looking at this through the lens of his combat injuries — his TBI, his PTSD — nothing is meant to excuse what happened, but it should absolutely make us hold a mirror up and look at how we as a society, how we as a country, bring our service members back and either support them or don't."
Jose submitted a statement to Aurora Immigration Court, saying he had several encounters with law enforcement when he was struggling with his mental health. Jose writes that he deeply regrets those actions and believes they were connected to his "untreated combat-related conditions."
"I never had a history of violence before Iraq," Jose wrote.
"I don't think that's fair for anyone to be punished twice for the same crime," Krebbs said. "Sometimes, I'm angry. Mainly, I'm just sad that this is happening, and embarrassed for our country that this is happening. I don't think it's right to deport people that served your country."
Denver7 attempted to reach out to the victims named in Jose's arrest affidavit, but could not get a hold of them.
His future
Krebbs said the time Jose Barco has spent detained at the Aurora ICE Processing Center, waiting for an answer regarding what will happen next, has been extremely challenging.
"I think that's psychologically just kind of damaging for people to be locked up in a place like that with no clue as to when they're going to be released or what's going to happen to them," Krebbs said. "Especially when they're under a deportation order, and the country that they're trying to deport them to won't take them."
Jose's wife fears he does not have a light at the end of the tunnel.
"Sometimes he says, 'The only way I feel like I'll be free in this life is if I'm dead,'" Tia Barco said. "This is completely new to me. This is completely new to everyone. You honestly feel like it's false hope too, that you're giving to someone, because you honestly have no idea what's going to become of this. So, you feel helpless... I'm hoping for some understanding and compassion. That's all I can really hope for."
Stout believes Jose deserves better from the country he served than to be deported.
"We owe him more than that," Stout said. "And not just Jose, but any person, any soldier who is willing to go put their life on the line for our country, we owe them better than that... It is personal to me. It should be personal to every American."
Jose's decorated Army service creates a "heightened risk of harm if removed to Venezuela or El Salvador," his counsel wrote in a court document.
According to his legal team, if Jose were removed to El Salvador there are concerns that he would be "indefinitely detained" due to his tattoos. Jose's counsel claims the tattoos could be "dangerously misconstrued" as related to a gang affiliation, which can result in prolonged or indefinite detention, especially when paired with a criminal record from the U.S.
His attorneys assert that Jose has no history of gang affiliation or gang activity.
The response from DHS calls this issue "irrelevant" because Jose "will not be removed to El Salvador."
DHS requested the court include Cuba and Mexico as alternate countries of removal. Jose's legal team called that a "last-minute pivot" and claimed it violates due process.
A DHS court filing claims there are records showing Jose was born in Cuba. A filing from Barco's team said, "if DHS possesses such records, they have failed to produce them."
Jose submitted a statement to the immigration judge, explaining why he fears being removed to Cuba. He claims his father was a political dissident who opposed the Cuban regime and was imprisoned and tortured for his beliefs. The family fled Cuba and headed for the United States in 1990.
"DHS is trying to remove me to Cuba — a country I do not remember, have never resided in, and that I am terrified to be sent to," Jose wrote. "I fear for my life and safety if I am forced to return to Cuba."
Jose believes both his family history and service in the U.S. military could lead to persecution and torture in Cuba.
He also submitted reasons for a fear of being sent to Mexico, saying it would subject him to a "substantial risk of torture" either directly or indirectly if he is forcibly removed from Mexico and sent to Venezuela.
Jose wrote that "Mexico is not a safe environment for a psychologically disabled U.S. combat veteran, and my visible symptoms may make me appear unstable or suspicious to authorities or criminal groups."
"We believe that Jose deserves protection from deportation, specifically to these countries where he will be in imminent danger," Stout said. "That's what we will be determining on August 11."
