José Bello
Biography
José Bello is a Bakersfield College student, farmworker and immigrant-rights advocate. ICE arrested him on May 15, 2019, shortly after he publicly recited a poem criticizing immigration enforcement. His lawyers alleged First Amendment retaliation and challenged the agency's increase of his bond to $50,000. He was released on bond in August 2019. In January 2021 the Ninth Circuit allowed his retaliation lawsuit to proceed; that procedural ruling was not a final determination of liability.
Case history and verification
José Bello is a Bakersfield College student, farmworker and immigrant-rights advocate. ICE arrested him on May 15, 2019, shortly after he publicly recited a poem criticizing immigration enforcement. His lawyers alleged First Amendment retaliation and challenged the agency's increase of his bond to $50,000. He was released on bond in August 2019. In January 2021 the Ninth Circuit allowed his retaliation lawsuit to proceed; that procedural ruling was not a final determination of liability.
Status reviewed October 8, 2026: Historical case. The profile records the last documented outcome; no current ICE custody is asserted.
Sources
Verified detail sources (October 8, 2026): The ACLU’s January 14, 2021 account uses he/him for the Bakersfield poet and plaintiff. Its inconsistent recital-year reference is not used to change existing case dates. Source 1.
Photo source: KVPR / Valley Public Radio. Photo by Edith Mata. Source image reproduced without further alteration.
Custody review October 13, 2026: Bello-Reyes v. Gaynor, Ninth Circuit, January 14, 2021, background and footnote 3, establish the May 15, 2019 re-detention and actual August 12 release on bond. The opinion also establishes a separate May–August 2018 detention, recorded only to month precision. Bail conditions and electronic monitoring after release are not counted as continued detention-center confinement.
