Former Bakersfield College student who wrote poem critical of immigration policies now wanted as homicide suspect

A former Bakersfield College student who drew national attention in 2019 when he read his poem titled “Dear America” that was critical of the country’s immigration policies is now a suspect in a homicide in Tulare County, The Bakersfield Californian is reporting.

Jose Bello read the poem at a public meeting and was arrested 36 hours later by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on allegations of drunken driving. His case drew national media attention.

Students protested, more than 100 college professors around the country wrote letters objecting to the arrest and the ACLU of Southern California represented Jose Bello in a lawsuit that claimed the arrest was political retaliation for his criticism of the federal agency. Two NFL players even paid his bail.

But now Bello, 24,  is a suspect in a Tulare County homicide of a 53-year-old man found dead in an orchard near Porterville last month, the newspaper reported. Two other men also were arrested. Bello remains at large. His full name is reported as Jose Omar Bello Reyes.

In 2018, Bello and his brother had been arrested by ICE  on suspicion of gang membership and deported to Mexico, but they reentered the county. Bello claimed ICE agents had confused him with someone else. Bakersfield College students and faculty rallied around him when he returned to the school.