French Woman, 86, Detained in US Immigration Scandal
- Traveling to the US to reunite with a childhood love and spend her twilight years, an 86-year-old French woman was arrested by immigration police.
- She was placed in a detention center due to a lack of a permanent visa.
- Fearing for her fragile health, her family is working to bring the octogenarian back to France quickly.
On April 1st, an 86-year-old French woman named Marie-Thérèse, originally from Nantes (Loire-Atlantique region), was arrested at her home in Anniston, Alabama. Immigration police agents, from the controversial ICE, conducted the arrest. Shackled hands and feet “like a dangerous criminal,” according to her son’s testimony, she was transferred to a detention center in Louisiana, where she remains detained today.
Her arrest, related to a lack of a permanent visa, happened amid a inheritance dispute with her late husband’s family. Her late husband, Billy, a former US Army colonel, met in the 1950s near Saint-Nazaire.
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Marie-Thérèse and Billy met in the late 1950s, each already starting their own families. After the passing of their respective spouses, they decided to reunite and got married. In April 2025, Marie-Thérèse crossed the Atlantic to live with her husband in the US. After the former soldier’s death, a conflict arose with one of his sons over the inheritance.
In this tense situation, Marie-Thérèse, without a permanent visa, was arrested just days before a hearing that, according to her family, could have favored her in the dispute. Today, her family is working to secure her release. Her son, talking to “Ouest-France,” mentioned that the French woman is among sixty other detainees, and suffers from severe heart and back problems. “Considering her health, she won’t last a month in these conditions,” he said.
The French consulate in Atlanta is closely monitoring Marie-Thérèse’s situation, in contact with her family and American immigration authorities. The retired woman’s son, in talks with consular officials, described it as “like a bad American movie scenario.” “Every morning, I wake up thinking it’s not real, that I had a nightmare,” he stated.
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This case highlights the excesses of the American immigration system, often criticized for its lack of discretion. Since Donald Trump’s return to power, the US has seen a “zero tolerance” policy reflected in the numbers. According to the New York Times, ICE made an average of over 1,100 arrests per day in 2026, doubling from about 600 daily arrests in spring 2025.
