French Woman, 86, Detained in the US over Immigration Issue
- Traveling to the US to reunite with a childhood love and live out her final years, an 86-year-old French woman was detained by immigration police.
- Placed in a detention center, she is accused of lacking a permanent visa.
- Concerned about her fragile health, her family is rallying for the octogenarian to be repatriated to France.
On April 1st, an 86-year-old French woman named Marie-Thérèse from Nantes (Loire-Atlantique region) was arrested at her Anniston home in the state of Alabama. Immigration police agents, from the controversial “ICE”, intervened. Handcuffed feet and hands “like a dangerous criminal,” as described by her son, she was transferred to a detention center in Louisiana, where she remains detained until today.
Her arrest, related to a permanent visa issue, occurred amidst an inheritance dispute with her deceased husband’s family, Billy, a former US army colonel, whom she met in the 1950s near Saint-Nazaire.
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Marie-Thérèse and Billy met in the late 1950s, each having 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 settle with her husband and lead their lives in the US. Following the former soldier’s death, a conflict arose with one of his sons over his inheritance.
In this tense atmosphere, Marie-Thérèse, without a permanent visa, was detained just days before a hearing that, according to her relatives, would have ruled in her favor in the dispute. Today, the octogenarian’s family is striving for her release. According to her son speaking to Ouest-France, the French woman is held among about sixty others and suffers from severe heart issues and back pain. “Given her health, she won’t last a month under such conditions,” he asserted.
The French Consulate in Atlanta reassured France Inter that they are closely monitoring Marie-Thérèse’s situation. They are in close contact with her family and US immigration police. The retired woman’s son, in discussions with consular authorities, described “a bad American movie scenario.” Every morning, “I wake up thinking it’s not real, that I had a nightmare,” he shared.
This case underscores the excesses of an often criticized American immigration system for its lack of judgment. Since Donald Trump’s return to power, the US has seen a “zero-tolerance” policy resulting in higher figures. According to the New York Times, ICE has averaged over 1,100 daily arrests in 2026, doubling from about 600 per day in spring 2025.
