ICE deports Colorado combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient to Mexico

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DENVER (KDVR) — A Colorado combat veteran who earned a Purple Heart was deported from America on Friday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson confirmed.

Jose Barco-Chirino , 39, came to the U.S. when he was four years old, later joining the military where he served two tours in Iraq and was injured in combat. He applied for citizenship while deployed in 2006. His representatives say that, unfortunately, Barco-Chirino’s paperwork was lost.

Advocate Anna Stout told NewsNation affiliate KDVR that his family had fled Cuba and gone to Venezuela after his father was exiled, then came to the U.S. as political ref