For the last seven months, Angela Della Valle’s life has been a loop of long drives, hotel check-ins and brief visits in fluorescent-lit rooms. She has been crossing state lines and U.S. territories to see her husband, Carlos, who she says the government abruptly took from her after what was supposed to be a simple trip to St. Thomas.
Carlos was detained after that trip and charged with illegal reentry. Even after a criminal jury cleared him of the charge, immigration officials moved him into federal custody and started shuttling him from one facility to another. The couple’s routine, they say, has turned into a patchwork of short visits and uncertain court dates, with no clear end in sight. Back home in Chester County, neighbors and friends have stepped in, organizing vigils and a legal fund to keep the family’s fight going.
As reported by the Miami Herald, Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied Carlos humanitarian parole and wrote that he had “not established” that he was not a flight risk. That rationale has been used to keep him locked up for roughly seven months. The Herald’s reconstruction of the case shows Carlos was first stopped at Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas, later tried in Charlotte Amalie, and, after a not-guilty verdict, was reported to immigration authorities the very next morning. Family files reviewed by the Herald show a string of transfers, from processing centers in Puerto Rico to Florida and then on to a facility in Louisiana. His wife and lawyers say that constant movement has made timely legal representation much harder.
The ripple effects have stretched far beyond South Florida. Local coverage notes that more than 100 people packed into a bilingual rally at Valley Forge Presbyterian Church to support the Della Valles, and that neighbors say Carlos has lived in Chester County since 1997, according to CBS Philadelphia. Supporters have sent more than 200 letters vouching for his character and pulled together travel funds so Angela can afford repeated trips to remote jails. Those grassroots efforts have kept the family’s situation in the public eye while their legal options crawl through immigration court.
Shuttled From the Caribbean to the Everglades
Reporting by the Herald traces Carlos’s path from the U.S. Virgin Islands to an ICE staging area in San Juan and then to several Florida lockups, including Krome, FDC Miami and the Broward Transitional Center. At one point, he spent time in the tented Everglades facility that detainees and critics have nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz.” As outlined by the Miami Herald, those short stints were followed by more transfers that eventually landed him at Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana.
The Everglades site became a national flashpoint for how quickly it was built and the conditions inside, according to The Guardian. Advocates say the constant shuffle between facilities often leaves families with little or no warning about where their loved ones are headed next.
Lawmakers, Advocates Point to Policy Gap
Advocates argue that what is happening to the Della Valles is not an outlier. American Families United’s report “Collateral Damage” - based on a 2025 national survey of mixed-status couples - documents mounting emotional and financial strain and notes that many families are already talking about leaving the United States altogether, according to American Families United. The findings have helped build momentum for the Dignity Act.
Rep. María Elvira Salazar and her allies have leaned on that data in recent press events to promote the bipartisan Dignity Act, which would carve out a narrow legal pathway for long-term, low-risk immigrants and their U.S. citizen spouses, according to Rep. Salazar's office. Supporters say cases like Carlos’s are exactly what the bill is meant to address.
The Legal Stakes for Reentry Cases
Under federal law, unauthorized reentry after removal is a criminal offense under 8 U.S.C. § 1326. The statute carries a maximum of two years in prison for simple reentry and stiffer penalties for people with prior felony deportations, according to Cornell Law School. That kind of potential prison time helps explain why immigration authorities often treat reentry as grounds for aggressive detention, even when a criminal court decides not to convict or punish the person involved.
For families caught between a criminal acquittal and immigration exclusion, lawyers say the only meaningful fixes are policy changes or a shift in how cases are prosecuted and enforced. Until then, couples like the Della Valles remain at the mercy of a system that can clear someone in one courtroom while keeping them locked up in another.
Angela says she intends to keep showing up - at hearings, detention centers and community events - until her husband is released or Congress steps in. Their case has become one of dozens that advocates hold up as proof of the human toll of an enforcement-first immigration system, and it has added fresh energy to the push for narrow, family-focused legislation that supporters argue could spare other spouses from facing the same agonizing choice.
