US EditionFrench Woman, 86, Held by ICE After Moving to US to Reunite with Long-Lost Love
France says the 86-year-old widow’s detention threatens her health as her family seeks repatriation and ICE cites an overstay.
- On April 1, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained 86-year-old French widow Marie-Therese Helene Ross in Alabama for overstaying her 90-day visa; she remains held at a federal immigration detention facility in Louisiana.
- Ross moved to the United States in 2025 to marry William Ross, a U.S. Army veteran, after the couple reconnected on social media following their separation in the 1960s when France withdrew from NATO's integrated military command structure.
- Her son told Ouest-France that agents 'handcuffed her hands and feet like she was a dangerous criminal,' while family members expressed concern over her heart and back health problems during detention.
- Consul General Rodolphe Sambou told the Associated Press the French government has "fully mobilized" to secure her release, with officials in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Paris coordinating with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
- Ross is among thousands targeted by the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda, which now detains spouses of U.S. veterans who previously received leniency under scrapped policies.
151 Articles
151 Articles
Judge outraged as 85-year-old French widow tossed in detention amid inheritance dispute
An 85-year-old French woman detained by U.S. immigration officials for 16 days has returned to her native country, whose government alleges violent misconduct in the case.Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé arrived Friday at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, where she was greeted by her three adult children stil...
86-year-old French woman taken from her Alabama home by ICE amid heated estate case with her late husband's sons
ANNISTON, Ala. (WIAT) — An 86-year-old woman who left her home in France to marry her former sweetheart in Alabama is now sitting in an ICE facility in Louisiana, just months after her husband died and she entered a contentious court case against his sons over his estate. Marie-Therese Helene Claire Ross-Mahé, who was married [...]
Following his return to the White House, Donald Trump authorized a strict anti-migration policy, which was symbolized by ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Police, which began to raid all over the country, with no illegal migrants, but also people legally present in the country, and culminated in the events in Minneapolis in early 2026, where ICE raids and opposition to them resulted in the killing of two people.
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