France seeks release of 86-year-old French widow detained by ICE

The French government is pressing the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release the 86-year-old French widow of a military veteran from immigration custody after she was detained earlier this month.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained Marie-Therese Ross in Alabama on 1 April after she overstayed her 90-day visa, according to DHS. Ross is now being held at a federal immigration detention facility in Louisiana.

She is among the thousands of people targeted by the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda that has resulted in the spouses of US soldiers and military veterans detained, who previously received greater leniency under policies since scrapped by Donald Trump in his second term in office.

Rodolphe Sambou, consul general of France in New Orleans, told the Associated Press that the French government has “fully mobilized” to push for her release. He said he had visited her in detention twice so far.

“Given her age, we really want her to get out of this situation as soon as possible,” Sambou said. “We want to get her out of jail.”

Sambou said that he had been communicating frequently with Ross’s family and French officials in Washington DC, Atlanta and Paris to try to coordinate Ross’s release and ensure she has access to sufficient food and healthcare. He said the French government has also contacted DHS.

He declined to comment on her legal status or other details of her case.

Ross married Alabama resident William Ross in April last year, Calhoun county marriage records show. Ross died in January, according to an obituary from his family, which says he was a former captain in the US army.

A lawyer who is representing Ross in a separate legal matter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ross’s family did not respond to requests for comment.

Numerous media reports said Ross had traveled to the US to reconnect with an old flame from decades before and they got married.