Elderly Frenchwoman held by ICE has returned to France, foreign ministry says

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An 85-year-old Frenchwoman who was arrested by ICE after her American veteran husband died, has returned to France, the foreign ministry announced Friday. The detention of Marie-Thérèse Ross – who had moved to the US to marry her long-lost love and was still waiting for her Green Card application to be approved – has caused an uproar in France.

Issued on: 17/04/2026 - 14:07Modified: 17/04/2026 - 14:11

1 min Reading time Share By: FRANCE 24

A French woman in her eighties, who had been arrested by US immigration authorities and placed in a detention centre, returned to France on Friday, announced Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.

The woman, who was married to an American man who died in January, “returned to France this morning, and we are pleased about that", Barrot told reporters on a visit to the southern city of Montpellier.

Read moreFrom rekindled love story to ICE 'nightmare': France calls on US to release 85-year-old

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

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