PARIS (AP) — The 85-year-old widow of an American military veteran held in federal immigration detention returned home to France on Friday, after a case that tied U.S. immigration enforcement, a family estate dispute and the machinery of federal custody together in one ugly little knot.
Marie-Thérèse Ross entered the U.S. last June to begin a new life with a retired U.S. soldier she had met decades ago when he was stationed in France, court records show. After her husband’s death, Ross’ stepson — a U.S. federal employee — allegedly intervened to have her taken into immigration custody earlier this month amid a dispute over the estate, an Alabama judge found. That is the power arrangement in plain sight: an elderly widow, a federal detention system, and a family fight that ended with armed-state bureaucracy swallowing the person at the center of it.
Who Had the Power
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters during a visit to the southern city of Montpellier on Friday, “She returned to France this morning. This is a satisfaction for us.” Barrot also said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement methods are “not in line” with French standards and are “not acceptable to us.”
The diplomatic language is polished, but the facts underneath are blunt. Federal immigration agents detained Ross in Alabama on April 1 after she overstayed her 90-day visa, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She was then held at a detention facility in Louisiana as French officials expressed concern about her well-being.
Ross’ son, Herve Goix, told The Associated Press that she had been in the process of applying for a green card when she was taken into custody. He said, “She’s very tired, she’s not very good, but it’s difficult for her.” He added, “We are very, very happy, but we are tired.”
What the Detention Machine Did
According to Ross’ attorney Kim Willingham, Ross was not given the medication she needed while being held in the Louisiana detention facility. Willingham said, “She does not feel she or other inmates are being treated well within the facility.” She added, “She did everything she was supposed to do with regard to obtaining her green card.”
That detail matters because it shows how the apparatus treats people once it has them: not as human beings with medical needs, but as bodies to be processed. Ross was taken into custody in Alabama on April 1 and then shipped to Louisiana, far from the family dispute that helped set the whole thing in motion.
Ross gave up her pension and moved to Alabama last year to marry William B. Ross, a retired U.S. soldier she had met when he was stationed in France in the 1960s, Calhoun County court records show. After William B. Ross died in January, his two sons became embroiled in a dispute with their stepmother over the modest estate, including the home in Anniston, Alabama, where she resided.
The sons rerouted mail from the residence, leading their stepmother to miss an immigration-related appointment, Calhoun County Probate Judge Shirley A. Millwood noted in a court order earlier this month. Millwood accused one son of using his position as a federal employee to prompt the detention of his stepmother days before a hearing over the estate.
Ross was taken into custody in her nightgown and unable to bring her phone, passport and other identification with her, records show. The stepson denied involvement in his stepmother’s arrest in court, but Millwood said evidence indicated he knew in advance of the arrest and received a text message confirming it shortly afterward. His brother then arrived at the home to change the locks two hours after federal immigration agents removed their stepmother.
A Judge, a Family, and Federal Force
In an April 10 ruling, Millwood ordered the stepsons to allow Ross to retrieve her clothes, phone, documents and other possessions from her late husband’s home. Millwood also urged the federal government to investigate the circumstances of Ross’ arrest “in light of the ongoing national events surrounding the distrust of federal law enforcement officers and the many investigations ongoing of corruption within our government.”
The office of attorney Megan Huizinga, who is representing the two stepsons in the estate dispute, declined to comment. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In an emailed statement, the city of Anniston said its police department had “no involvement” in Ross’ arrest.
Ross’ return to France closes this chapter for now, but the facts remain ugly and simple: an 85-year-old widow was pulled into federal immigration detention, held in Louisiana, and caught in a family dispute where a federal employee was accused of helping trigger the arrest. The state’s paperwork, custody rules and enforcement powers did the rest.