French woman, Marie-Thérèse, aged 85, originally from Pouligen (Loire-Atlantique), who was married to an American and deported in January, has returned to France this morning and it is a source of satisfaction for us,” said Jean-Noël Barrot to the press during a visit to Montpellier.
The US Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Tuesday to AFP the arrest on April 1 of the 85-year-old woman, who entered the United States in June 2025 with a tourist visa allowing her to stay “90 days” on American soil. However, she was still in the United States “seven months later,” according to American authorities.
“Violence”
According to testimonies from neighbors reported by her son Hervé, interviewed on Monday by AFP, the 85-year-old woman, who lived in Alabama, was “arrested, handcuffed feet and hands.” Questioned about ICE methods, and not specifically about the case of the 85-year-old woman, Jean-Noël Barrot estimated that they are “not necessarily in compliance – I am not speaking about the specific case but more generally – with those that are in force and acceptable to us.” “There have been acts of violence that have raised our concern. But the main thing is that she is back in France and that satisfies us fully,” he said.
