An octogenarian French woman, arrested on April 1 by US immigration police and placed in a detention center in Louisiana, returned to France on Friday, April 17 and reunited with her family.
“A very extremely difficult ordeal for her.” Marie-Thérèse’s three children, an 86-year-old French octogenarian arrested on April 1 by US immigration police and placed in a detention center in Louisiana, are “relieved” to have their mother back in France on Friday, April 17.
“We are particularly relieved to see our mother, whom we found this morning, after she went through a very extremely difficult ordeal,” said her son Hervé during a press conference on Friday evening at the town hall of Orvault, near Nantes, in the presence of his brother and sister.
“The main thing is that she is truly safe, that she finds her comfort and is surrounded by her children and grandchildren, which is the case tonight,” he added. “Our absolute priority today is to protect her, to protect her health, to protect her rest and then for her to be able to rebuild herself.”
The octogenarian’s three children, who do not disclose their last name, did not want to comment on “the circumstances of her detention.” “We don’t have enough information, we don’t know how the procedures could have been initiated,” explained Hervé.
This French woman, married to an American since January, returned to France on Friday morning and arrived in the afternoon in Orvault (Loire-Atlantique), where she had long been residing.
“She is delighted, she is happy, she is relieved,” explained the mayor of the town, Sébastien Arrouët, to the press. “Put yourself in her shoes: 86 years old, in a country she knows a little, it hit her hard. I think we don’t realize the psychological violence, she needs to process all of this,” added the mayor.
Context: An 86-year-old French woman was detained by US immigration authorities and placed in a detention center in Louisiana, but has since been released and returned to France.
Fact Check: The woman was detained in the US after overstaying her tourist visa by several months, according to US authorities.
