Josh Norman and Demario Davis Bail Out College Student Detained by ICE

22-year-old undocumented immigrant and Bakersfield college student Jose Bello has been held in ICE captivity since May. Bello had been openly critical of the nation's immigration practices spearheaded by President Donald Trump, even reciting his "Dear America" poem to the Kern County Board of Supervisors.

About 36 hours after the speech went viral, Bello was arrested on a outstanding DUI charge. Bello remained stuck in a state prison due to being held on $50,000 bail, only earning $20,000 a year as a farmworker and unable to pay the charge

But there's a satisfying ending here. On Monday, Bello was released after bail was posted by Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman and New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis.

"Jose Bello was exercising a fundamental right that we pride ourselves on as Americans," Norman said in a statement, via ACLU of Southern California. "If he was detained for reciting a peaceful poem then we should really ask ourselves, are our words truly free? This is America, right? Where the First Amendment is freedom of speech unless I missed the memo somewhere. He was exercising that right."

Norman and Davis weren't alone, as the New York Immigrant Freedom Fund and the National Bail Fund Network also contributed to post Bello's bail.

Both players are members of the NFL's Players Coalition, a group that fights for social justice and racial equality.

"In this month alone, we've seen ICE round up a 22-year old father, Jose, because he read a critical poem," said Davis, via ACLU. "We've seen ICE round up nearly 700 people in Mississippi and leave their children without parents, we've seen them turn away asylum seekers who will face certain death in their home countries. Is this America? We must say no, and we must start by helping our most vulnerable."

Norman and Davis understood that Bello was exercising his right to freedom of speech, and decided to lend a helping hand.