In a development that has sparked diplomatic friction between France and the United States, an 85-year-old French woman, widowed by a former U.S. Army captain, has returned to her home country after being held in U.S. immigration custody for over a month. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed the veteran’s widow arrived back in France on Friday morning, framing the repatriation as an outcome that brings a measure of closure to French authorities.
The case began on April 1, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents took Marie-Thérèse Ross into custody in Alabama. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Ross was detained after she overstayed the 90-day tourist visa she had entered the country on. Public records from Calhoun County confirm Ross married William Ross, a long-time Alabama resident and retired U.S. Army captain, in April of the previous year. William Ross passed away just months after the wedding, in January, his family’s obituary confirms.
Following her arrest, Ross was transferred to a federal immigration detention center based in Louisiana to await processing for deportation. Speaking to reporters during an official visit to the southern French city of Montpellier on Friday, Barrot acknowledged the French government’s satisfaction at securing her return, but did not shy away from harsh criticism of ICE’s handling of the case.
While Barrot declined to offer detailed commentary on the specific circumstances of Ross’ detention, he emphasized that several tactics employed by the agency are misaligned with France’s accepted standards of treatment for immigration detainees. He described the methods used as unacceptable to the French government, referencing unelaborated claims of “violence that raised our concerns” among French diplomatic officials.
Ross’ case is not an isolated incident: she is one of thousands of immigrants targeted for detention and deportation under the Trump administration’s aggressive mass deportation policy push. The policy reversed earlier executive guidelines that granted greater leniency to spouses of active-duty U.S. service members and military veterans, a change that has left hundreds of family members of veterans vulnerable to detention despite their longstanding ties to the United States.