An 86-year-old who was detained by immigration authorities for more than two weeks is back in her native France after an ordeal that the country’s top diplomat said included “acts of violence.”
Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé arrived at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport on Friday, still wearing a jail outfit that her son told The New York Times included a sweater covered in stains and holes.
Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s minister of foreign affairs, called Ross-Mahé‘s return “fully satisfying to us.”
The French government had demanded Ross-Mahé‘s release, raising concerns about a person of her age being held in custody.
The arrest of Ross-Mahé followed a heartbreaking chain of events.
She came to the United States last year, after marrying an American man, Bill Ross, whom she knew as a teenager working on a military installation in France.
The two had both separately married but had stayed in touch for years. When each of their spouses died, they struck up a romantic relationship.
Ross-Mahé moved across the Atlantic to live with her new husband in Anniston, Alabama. According to The New York Times, she had begun the process of legally immigrating to the U.S.
As this was happening, Ross died suddenly in January and neglected to leave a will. This prompted a fight with his surviving sons. One of them, a former police officer and federal courthouse employee, is believed to have contacted federal immigration authorities, who then arrested Ross-Mahé.
According to new reporting from the Times, one of the sons had rerouted mail from the house where Ross-Mahé was living, leading her to miss an immigration appointment.
After her arrest, the Frenchwoman was detained for 16 days in a facility in Louisiana.
Soon after, an Alabama probate judge presiding over the fight for Ross’s estate instructed the two sons to hand over their keys to their father’s house.
Additionally, the judge urged a federal investigation into their conduct. She reportedly directed her ruling be sent to the federal judge sitting in the Northern District of Alabama, which is based in Anniston.
As French authorities tried to secure her release, Ross-Mahé reportedly received assistance from other detainees, who offered her extra blankets.
This is one of several high-profile instances of immigration authorities sweeping up seniors.
In December, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a 77-year-old Iranian man who had lived in the United States for six decades.
Agents in California also put a 71-year-old American citizen in handcuffs. She later said she was “mentally and physically” traumatized by the experience.
