ICE Detains 86-Year-Old French Widow Marie-Thérèse Ross After Alabama Visa Overstay

Marie-Thérèse Helene Ross, an 86-year-old French widow, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on April 1 after she exceeded her 90-day tourist stay in the United States, according to El Mundo and Le Monde.

“Editorial team of CiberCuba Thursday, April 16, 2026 - 10:41 AM Share on: Associated videos: The French government demands that the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immediately release Marie-Thérèse Hélène Ross, an 86-year-old French citizen who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on April 1 at her home in Anniston, Alabama, and transported in handcuffs to a federal detention center in Louisiana”

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El Mundo says ICE detained her for having exceeded her 90-day tourist stay and described her as “an undocumented foreigner,” while Le Monde reports that DHS said she overstayed her 90-day visa.

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Le Monde adds that Ross was held at “a federal immigration detention facility in Louisiana,” after ICE agents detained her in Alabama.

The Orlando Sentinel, citing the Associated Press, similarly reports that ICE agents detained Ross in Alabama on April 1 and that she was being held in Louisiana.

El Mundo reports that ICE publicly confirmed her detention on Wednesday and that it said she had overstayed her tourist permit by seven months.

The case is tied to Ross’s late-life marriage: El Mundo says she married in April 2025 the American veteran William “Bill” Ross, and Le Monde says she married Alabama resident William Ross in April last year.

El Mundo also says Ross claimed she was processing a “green card” to stay in the country after her husband’s death in January, while Le Monde frames her as among people targeted by the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.

Multiple reports describe Ross’s arrest and detention conditions in terms of restraints and access to care.

El Mundo says her son denounced the violence with which she was arrested, describing “handcuffed feet and hands” and saying ICE did not consider her age or health problems.

El Mundo

In El Mundo, the son tells Ouest France: “They handcuffed her feet and hands as if she were a dangerous criminal,” and he adds that “They did not consider either her age or the precarious state of health of my mother, who has heart and back problems.”

The Orlando Sentinel, quoting Consul General of France in New Orleans Rodolphe Sambou, reports that Sambou said the French government has “fully mobilized” to push for her release and that he has visited her in detention twice so far.

Sambou is also quoted in the Orlando Sentinel saying, “Given her age, we really want her to get out of this situation as soon as possible,” and “We want to get her out of jail.”

Le Monde similarly says the French government is pressing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to release Ross from immigration custody.

CiberCuba adds more detail about the restraints, quoting relatives who denounced that “She was handcuffed at the wrists and ankles as if she were a dangerous criminal,” and it says Ross was transported in handcuffs to a federal detention center in Louisiana.

The Orlando Sentinel further reports that Sambou said he has been communicating frequently with Ross’ family and French officials in Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Paris to coordinate Ross’ release and ensure she has access to sufficient food and health care.

The detention case is presented as the end of a relationship that began decades earlier and culminated in a marriage shortly before Ross’s husband died.

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El Mundo says Marie-Thérèse and William “Bill” Ross met in the 1950s when both worked at the NATO base in Montoir-de-Bretagne, near Nantes, and that Bill returned to the United States in 1966 when France withdrew from the NATO integrated military command structure.

El Mundo reports that the relationship broke and they did not see each other for years, before reconnecting in 2010 and visiting each other frequently with their respective partners.

El Mundo says that when both were widowed, they “finally consummated the love of their youth and decided to marry last spring,” and it identifies Marie-Thérèse as a native of Le Pouliguen who moved to Anniston, Alabama, where she lived with her husband until his death.

Le Monde adds that Ross married Alabama resident William Ross in April last year, and it says Ross died in January, according to an obituary from his family describing him as “a former captain in the U.S. Army.”

CiberCuba similarly says the couple married in April 2025, that Billy died in January 2026, and that Ross stayed in Alabama to handle legal steps and a probate dispute with Billy’s son over the veteran’s estate.

CiberCuba also says Ross hired an attorney to regularize her immigration status and that she was arrested by ICE the day before a court hearing.

The Orlando Sentinel adds that a lawyer representing Ross in a separate legal matter did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and it says Ross’ family did not respond to requests for comment.

The reports place Ross’s detention within a broader controversy over immigration enforcement and detention of vulnerable people.

El Mundo says the case has brought to light “the draconian methods of ICE,” and it notes that the story emerged “two months after the case of Cuban Julia Benítez Pérez, 79, known as 'the grandmother' and released after nine months in an ICE detention center despite her fragile health and signs of senile dementia.”

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MVNU similarly says ICE has come under heavy criticism for holding elderly people and children, and it references “Last February, a 79-year-old Cuban immigrant, known as ‘the grandmother’, was released” after being detained for nine months in a jail in Arizona.

MVNU also says the release was achieved after the intervention of Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva, adding that she regretted that the physical and mental health of the elderly woman would have deteriorated irreparably during confinement.

El Mundo and Le Monde both connect the case to the Trump administration’s immigration approach, with Le Monde describing Ross as among “the thousands of people targeted by the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda.”

El Mundo says harsh criticisms have focused on the “excesses of its immigration police and the detention conditions of the elderly and children,” and it describes the French government’s steps for release and repatriation.

CiberCuba adds that the case “adds to a series of arrests that sparked controversy,” including “deportation proceedings against 248 members of families of former military personnel,” and it frames the context as one where “authorities argued that military service alone does not exempt foreigners from current immigration rules.”

In the same vein, MVNU says Ross was detained after ICE reproached her for “still illegally in the United States.” seven months later“, and it says the family learned of the detention after consular officials visited her.

The immediate next steps described in the reporting center on French government efforts to secure Ross’s release and repatriation, while U.S. authorities continue to hold her in detention.

“The keys Generated with AI Generated with AI The French government has demanded the release of Marie-Thérèse Ross, an 86-year-old French woman resident in the United States, who has been detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) since April 1”

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Le Monde says the French government is pressing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to release Ross from immigration custody after she was detained earlier this month, and it frames the case as part of a wider policy shift affecting spouses of U.S. soldiers and military veterans.

El Mundo

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Sambou said the French government has “fully mobilized” and that he has visited Ross twice, while also saying he has been communicating with Ross’ family and French officials in Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Paris to coordinate her release and ensure she has access to sufficient food and health care.

El Mundo says the consul in New Orleans, Rodolphe Sambou, “has managed to visit her twice and hopes for her release in the coming days,” and it describes the French government as taking steps for her release and repatriation.

MVNU similarly says Sambou declared to the Associated Press that the French government is “completely mobilized” to achieve the liberation of women and that he hopes for her release as soon as possible, quoting: “Taking into account his age, we fervently hope that he gets out of this situation as soon as possible,” and “We want to get her out of that jail“.

CiberCuba adds that Ross was arrested at her home in Anniston, Alabama, and transported in handcuffs to a federal detention center in Louisiana, and it says her children in France were not informed by U.S. authorities and learned of her arrest from neighbors before consular officials managed to visit her.

The reporting also indicates that legal status details were not publicly commented on by officials: the Orlando Sentinel says Sambou declined to comment on her legal status or other details of her case, and it notes that a lawyer representing Ross in a separate legal matter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.