Lawmakers, Advocates Gather Outside Capitol to Promote Bill for Mixed-Status Families

A bipartisan group of lawmakers gathered outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to promote a bill that would create a legal pathway for certain immigrants without criminal records to remain in the United States.

Among the crowd outside the Capitol on April 22 was Angella Della Valle, the wife of Carlos Della Valle, a Mexican national who has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since August 2025 despite having no criminal record.

"I'm a United States citizen, I'm a public school teacher, I'm a mother, and instead of being with my students, I'm here because my husband of 24 years is sitting in a detention facility," Della Valle said, according to the Miami Herald.

Carlos Della Valle left his hometown in the Mexican state of Guerrero in 1997 in search of work opportunities after receiving multiple threats from a local drug cartel. He crossed into Douglas, Arizona, but was later detained and deported.

Determined to pursue his "American Dream," he crossed again and eventually settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania, where he later met and married Angela.

Married for more than 20 years, the couple typically took Christmas vacations each year. Their issues with immigration enforcement began in 2024, when Carlos was detained at an airport after returning from a trip to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Authorities said the arrest stemmed from an old 1997 deportation order.

After a legal battle, Carlos was released on a $20,000 bond but was ordered to return to St. Thomas in August 2025 to face trial on whether he had entered the country illegally. He was found not guilty, but was taken back into custody a day later.

Since then, Carlos has been transferred to more than a dozen detention centers in seven months, including facilities in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, 11 centers in Florida, two in Louisiana and one in Texas, according to the Miami Herald.

The April 22 gathering, organized by the American Business Immigration Coalition, was an effort by lawmakers and advocates to raise awareness about families such the Della Valle's.

While talking in front of lawmakers, business leaders and other migrant families, Angela said she has met with more than 40 immigration lawyers across the country to adjust his status based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen, but said she was constantly told to wait for a reform.

"There is no legal pathway for a family like ours, not because we didn't try, but because Congress never built one," she said, as reported by the Miami Herald.

Cases like the Della Valles' have helped drive support for the Dignity Act, a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., that would create a legal pathway for some immigrants without criminal records to remain in the United States with their families.

The Miami Herald reported that Salazar has faced criticism from some Republican colleagues who argue the proposal amounts to amnesty for people in the country illegally, a characterization she rejected during the event.

"Amnesty is what's happening right now. Amnesty is not dignity. Dignity is in the middle," she said. "This is good for the Democrats. This is good for the Republicans."

Salazar said under the proposal, people like Angella Della Valle's husband would not gain a pathway to citizenship because "they broke the law," but would be able to return home to their families.

She said eligible immigrants would be required to pay a $7,000 fine, would be ineligible for federal benefits, and would have to contribute 1% of their salary to the government for seven years.

The Dignity Act has so far gathered 39 bipartisan supporters but has not advanced to a vote in the House. Salazar said she has been in discussions with the White House and that final action rests with President Donald Trump.

At the rally, Della Valle urged immigration authorities to release her husband.

"He's done everything right, and we love this country. We just want to go home to our son in Chester County, cut grass, cook dinner," she said. "What's happening in my family should not be happening in America."