FILE – A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge, June 10, 2025, in New York.
Yuki Iwamura/AP
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Yuki Iwamura/AP
NEW ORLEANS — The French authorities is urgent the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety to launch the 86-year-old French widow of a army veteran from immigration custody after she was detained earlier this month.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers detained Marie-Therese Ross in Alabama on April 1 after she overstayed her 90-day visa, in keeping with DHS. Ross is now being held at a federal immigration detention facility in Louisiana.
Ross is among the many hundreds of individuals focused by the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda that has detained the spouses of U.S. troopers and army veterans who beforehand obtained larger leniency beneath scrapped insurance policies.
Rodolphe Sambou, Consul Normal of France in New Orleans, advised the AP that the French authorities has “fully mobilized” to push for her launch. He mentioned he has visited her in detention twice to this point.
“Given her age, we really want her to get out of this situation as soon as possible,” Sambou mentioned. “We want to get her out of jail.”
Sambou mentioned that he has been speaking steadily with Ross’ household and French officers in Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Paris to try to coordinate Ross’ launch and guarantee she has entry to adequate meals and well being care. He mentioned the French authorities has additionally contacted DHS.
He declined to touch upon her authorized standing or different particulars of her case.
Ross married Alabama resident William Ross in April final 12 months, Calhoun County marriage data present. Ross died in January, in keeping with an obituary from his household, which says he was a former captain within the U.S. Military.
A lawyer who’s representing Ross in a separate authorized matter didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Ross’ household didn’t reply to requests for remark.
