It is a relief for her loved ones. This Friday during a trip to Montpellier, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot announced the return of an 86-year-old woman from Nantes detained in the United States by immigration police. “She returned to France this morning and it is a source of satisfaction for us,” said the head of diplomacy, while the Consulate had been working for several days to repatriate the octogenarian.
“We are particularly relieved to see our mother, whom we found this morning after she endured a necessarily extremely difficult ordeal for her,” declared Hervé, one of the sons of Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé.
At the beginning of the month, this woman was arrested by ICE in Anniston, Alabama, where she had been living since 2025. “She was handcuffed at the feet and hands like a dangerous criminal,” explained her son to Ouest-France. The American immigration police, under criticism for their sometimes violent methods, had arrested the octogenarian, who did not have a green card allowing her to stay permanently in the United States.
The connection between Marie-Thérèse and America began in the 1950s in Montoir-de-Bretagne near Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique), where she worked as a bilingual secretary on an NATO base, according to Ouest-France. The young woman met Bill Ross, an American military man deployed in France with whom she had a love affair. But in 1966, General de Gaulle decided to withdraw France from the integrated command of the Atlantic organization. The following year, the NATO bases in France, including that of Montoir-de-Bretagne, were closed and American soldiers left the territory. This marked the end of the romance between Marie-Thérèse and Billy. The French woman then rebuilt her life and gave birth to three children whom she raised in the Nantes region.
A marriage 70 years after their first love story
In 2010, she reunited with her teenage love and visited him several times with her husband. After his death in 2022, the former secretary joined Billy in the United States, who was also widowed. In April 2025, she married and settled permanently with the former helicopter pilot. “They looked like two teenagers,” one of Marie-Thérèse’s sons told the regional newspaper. But their second romance only lasted a few months. At the age of 85, Billy Ross suddenly passed away in January, leaving no will.
The inheritance of the deceased then turned into a legal battle between his sons and Marie-Thérèse. The dispute centered on the house that Billy Ross had owned for nearly 50 years, worth about $173,000 (€147,000) as reported by the New York Times. The two children also wanted to recover a bank account of about $1,500 (€1,271) and two cars, which they had taken on the day of their father’s death. Under Alabama law, Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé would be entitled to half of the inheritance, while the two sons would share the other half.
The sons offered $10,000 (€8,475) to the octogenarian if she gave up her inheritance rights, according to the New York Times. But the French woman refused to give in to the extortion. One of the sons even went so far as to cut off her water, internet, and electricity.
Expired visa
The problem is, Marie-Thérèse, who has been residing in the United States for several months, has not yet received her green card, the document allowing her to stay permanently in the country. Her temporary visa expires 90 days after her husband’s death. In court, she claims that one of the sons had changed the mail delivery address, causing her to miss an appointment with immigration services.
On April 1, 2026, ICE agents entered her home and arrested Marie-Thérèse wearing only a nightgown and a robe. She was placed in a detention center where she was unable to contact her family in France. The octogenarian spent more than two weeks in the center under the nickname “Unsinkable Molly,” in reference to Margaret Brown, a Titanic survivor.
According to the judge handling the case, one of Billy Ross’s sons, also employed in a court in Anniston, could have used his position to have Marie-Thérèse arrested.
