Recommendations of the Editorial team
As if it weren’t enough Tens of thousands of veterans to be released from the federal service. To shorten the services of the veteran ministry. And to curtail Medicare and social security. Now wants Donald Trump also identify veterans. Many of them have risked their lives for a country that now treats them like garbage.
While I write this Sits Jose Barcoa veteran of the US army and receiver of the Purple Heart, In a Texan internment camp. And wait for his Deportation. In a country that doesn’t even want to record it. Barco was born in Cuba. His father fled to Venezuela to get amnesty. The Venezuelan government claims that his birth certificate is fake. Since it is supposedly too new to be real.
Barco-a veteran of two combat missions in Iraq, who has jeopardized his life for a country that now refuses to recognize him as one of theirs-is in the balance while the Trump government decides what should happen to him. What you know is that you don’t want it to have it in the United States.
Jose Barco, veteran and carrier of the Purple Heart
Barco came to the USA at the age of four. He contacted the army and served in the Charlie Company, 1. Battalion, 506. Infantry regiment. A unit that experienced the worst in Iraq during the highlight of the uprising. In 2004 he received the Purple Heart after thrown through the air by an explosion and smashed against a wall. Which led to a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and severe burns.
Later he was diagnosed with post -traumatic stress disorder (PTBS). Skull brain trauma and PTBs are exactly the diseases that Trump through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) neglectedby cutting critical psychiatric services together. And over 80,000 jobs in the VA.
During his service, Barco tried to apply for citizenship. His commanding officer helped him fill out the application. Then he disappeared. No evidence chain. No records. A lost folder with the future of a soldier. What should have been a simple way to naturalization became an invisible trap door that led to exile.
15 years behind bars
When he returned to the USA, Barco’s untreated brain trauma became instability. In 2008 he committed a violent crime. He shot indiscriminately into a group of people and injured a pregnant youth. At the age of 15 of his life he lost behind bars for attempted murder. His punishment was reduced due to good leadership. He was released after his first list of probation.
Barco was honored. He was diagnosed with serious physical and psychological injuries. He was promised a way to citizenship. And yet he was taken up by the immigration and customs authority immediately after his release from prison in January and put in an airplane to Venezuela. A country that he has not seen since childhood and that refused to absorb him.
Now he is stateless. A man without a nation. The United States of America – the same nation for which he fought and bled – have refused to belong to belonging.
This disregard for the service has never been as outrageous as under Trump
Barco’s story is a warning example of how a proper procedure is avoided. It’s not just about him. It is the story we know. Around 40,000 foreign nationals are currently serving in the US Army. It’s about the hundreds of deported veteransthat are now scattered over 40 countries. It is about the failure of a country that thanks you for your service in one day and puts it off the next day.
This disregard for the service has never been as outrageous as under Trump, whose indifference compared to the dismantling of the VA – and the insensitive, senseless discharge of thousands of veterans by Elon Musk and Dogen – deliberately harms our veterans than any other government in the modern era. Some try to work for Barco. And demand that it is moved to a VA facility for medical care. But nothing has happened to this day.
Barco’s story, as faulty as a citizen, throws a light on the bigger problem with Trump’s second term in office. If Trump can do this to a war hero, he can do it to everyone. He can ignore the constitution and run again. He can suspend the Habeas Corpus process. Throw demonstrators in prison. Capture American citizens. He can move strongly towards a more fascist and authoritarian America. The Republicans in Congress will cheer him on. The Mass protests in the whole country are a strong beginning. But they are not enough to ensure that America does not fall back in exactly the despotism against which it was founded.
Are you ready for what comes next?
Even if the Democrats take over power in 2026 or 2028, the party does not seem to be willing to abolish the system of unlimited money in politics to ensure that another Elon Musk can buy influence. Apart from a few, they offer voters nothing more than “Republicans Light”.
The only one who can save you are yourself. Are you ready for what comes next? You should be better.