PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Activists are sounding the alarm about conditions in an Arizona ICE facility following the deportation of a decorated Army veteran who they say gave up his appeal rights due to poor treatment in federal immigration custody.

Jose Barco, 39, was deported Thursday night after waiving his rights to an appeal, according to protesters who gathered outside ICE headquarters in Phoenix on Friday. The Venezuela-born veteran served in the Army infantry from 2003 to 2009, earning more than a dozen medals over two tours and receiving a Purple Heart after being wounded in a car bomb in Iraq.

Activists said Barco’s experience at the ICE facility in Florence drove him to abandon his legal fight.

“He told his family that the treatment at the ICE facilities was worse than what he ex

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