Pa. man describes ‘inhumane' conditions after 8 months in ICE detention

After more than eight months in custody, a Pennsylvania man was released from U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention Tuesday in Louisiana.

Carlos Della Valle, a Mexican native and resident of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, was detained by ICE in December 2024 while returning from a vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He was later released on bond, but was detained again outside of court in August 2025 and was held in ICE custody until Tuesday, April 28, 2026.

Della Valle, who’s 40 years old, said those eight months have been some of the hardest months of his life.

“The hardest part was not having any information. Outside there is not information, inside, even less,” Della Valle said in Spanish. “To see so many families being unjustly separated.”

Della Valle said he was surprised by federal immigration authorities when he attended a court appointment in August 2025. He said agents detained him under a deportation order from 1997, because he entered the U.S. illegally. However, he said a judge had declared him not guilty in this case.

“I believe in this country, I believe in the law. It’s so heartbreaking to see what’s happening, I would love for that to change, ” the man said.

Della Valle said he never thought he would see dozens of people, especially young people, in his same situation.

“I have cried more in these last eight months than in my whole life,” Della Valle.

The man said he was held in 11 detention centers, including seven in Florida, including “Alligator Alcatraz” in South Florida — his last stop being in Louisiana.

“Many times the treatment was inhumane, and unfortunately, there are no rights. You don’t have rights,” Della Valle said.

NBC10 contacted ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to obtain more information about Della Valle’s case and his claims about the conditions in these facilities. However, at the time of this publication, the agencies had not responded to our request.

Della Valle arrived to the country about 30 years ago with no legal status. He eventually married his current partner, Angela Della Valle, an American citizen, and they’ve been together for 23 years. But for authorities, he said, their marriage isn’t enough.

“The time to prepare is now, not when the person is already detained. Once that person is detained, there are no options. If Carlos and I hadn’t talked beforehand with our child about what we could expect, we wouldn’t had been able to tolerate this,” Angela Della Valle said.

Meanwhile, this family said they are trying to follow the legal path so that Carlos can stay in the in the country he has called home for decades.

Read this story in Spanish here.