Elderly Frenchwoman Detained by ICE Returns Home After US Ordeal
A French woman in her eighties, identified as Marie-Thérèse, has returned to France following her detention by US immigration authorities. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed her arrival on Friday morning, expressing relief at her return.
Marie-Thérèse, from Nantes, relocated to Alabama last year after marrying her American husband, Billy, who subsequently passed away in January. She had been awaiting a green card when she was arrested earlier this month in Anniston, Alabama.
Her son reported that his mother was reunited with her children at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport still in a stained and torn prison uniform, describing her as being "in a state of shock and physically and spiritually exhausted after the ordeal."
The US Department of Homeland Security stated that an "illegal alien from France" matching her name had overstayed a 90-day visa, having entered the country in June 2025.
Reports suggest Marie-Thérèse's detention occurred amidst an inheritance dispute with one of Billy's sons, who allegedly subjected her to threats and cut off her utilities. She was arrested by ICE the day before a scheduled legal hearing, with her son recounting that she was "handcuffed hands and feet like she was a dangerous criminal."
The incident highlights the increasingly harsh posture of ICE, whose budget and remit have expanded significantly under the current US administration's mass deportation initiatives. French Foreign Minister Barrot subtly critiqued US detention methods, stating they are "not necessarily in line... with those currently in force and acceptable to us," noting "acts of violence that have given us cause for concern." This diplomatic friction underscores broader European disquiet over the punitive and often brutal application of US immigration law, which frequently disregards humanitarian concerns in favour of maintaining a tight, often arbitrary, control over who may reside in the country.
