Marie-Thérèse, an 86-year-old woman from Nantes, was arrested by ICE agents and placed in a detention center in Louisiana on April 1st. She had met a young American man in Brittany in the 1950s, got married and moved to the US. However, after her husband’s death in January 2026, she faced issues due to not having a green card. Despite suffering from heart and back problems, she was taken into custody and detained, being described as a “dangerous criminal.”
Marie-Thérèse’s three children were finally able to visit her after days of no contact on April 8th. The French consulate in Atlanta is closely monitoring the situation. The conflict arose from her late husband’s son threatening and intimidating her over the inheritance. Although an upcoming hearing was scheduled, she was taken into custody by immigration authorities.
The family is urgently seeking to bring her back to France due to her health condition. This case reflects the increasing number of immigration-related arrests in the US, escalating to nearly 55,000 per month, with ICE detentions exceeding 50,000 as of early 2026.
