Dissident Spotlight: Jose Bello
Jose Bello was re-arrested by ICE after reciting a poem criticizing the agency. Bello sued ICE and an appeals court sided with his right to bring the case.
When he sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Jose Bello was a college student attending Bakersfield College.
In 2018, ICE detained Bello for entering the United States illegally. Bello had lived in the United States since crossing the border as an undocumented immigrant in 2000 at the age of three. He was released after immigration activist groups raised his $10,000 bond in August. After his release, Bello became an activist who criticized ICE’s practices as the agency initiated deportation proceedings.
Then Bello was charged with driving under the influence in January 2019 and convicted in April that same year. His sentence was five days in jail and stayed until May 13.
May 13 was when Bello became a dissident.
Bello attended a rally where he read his poem “Dear America,” a short criticism of U.S. immigration policy and of ICE in particular. In part, his poem read:
Oppressed.
I live my life in frustration,
Private Prisons, political funding, mass incarceration.
You make the connections.
I speak for the victims that pay for this scam,
Vietnamese, Jamaican, African, Cambodian, Mexican, Salvadorian and on and on.Together we stand.
We demand our respect. We want our dignity back!
Our roots run deep in this country.
Now that’s a true fact.
Then on May 15 at 6:30 in the morning, ICE agents arrested Bello at his home. ICE had a warrant dated May 15 that the agency had “probable cause to believe that [Bello] is removable from the United States.” Bello’s bond was revoked, a new one was raised to $50,000, and Bello sued ICE for retaliating against him for his speech.
There’s More than One Way to Protect Free Speech
Bello lost his case at the District Court but won his appeal in 2021. The Appeals Court found that the timing of Bello’s arrest was evidence of retaliation for his speech rather than his DUI charge.
When people say “freedom isn’t free,” they’re usually talking about the military victories the United States had to win to protect our way of life. That’s true, but veterans aren’t the only ones fighting to protect free speech rights. Cases like Bello ensure that American policies aren’t only judged by what they do but also how they’re implemented.
Bello isn’t a dissident just because he criticized ICE. He’s a dissident because — as the Appeals Court ruled — ICE retaliated against him for something he said instead of did. Immigrants have free speech rights in the United States, and if those rights are protected for undocumented immigrants, then they’re protected for citizens, too.