BASILE, LOUISIANA — U.S. immigration authorities arrested 91-year-old French national Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé at her home in Anniston, Alabama, on April 1 for allegedly overstaying her 90-day visa. Two days later, she was transferred to a detention facility in Basile, Louisiana.

Five men identifying themselves as immigration officers banged on her door and windows at about 8 a.m., handcuffed her, and placed her in a vehicle while she was wearing a bathrobe, slippers, and pajamas. At the Basile facility, she was held with 58 other women, most of whom were mothers, some of whom did not know where their children were.

Ross-Mahé first traveled to the United States to be with her 1950s sweetheart, William B. Ross, whom she had met when he was a U.S. soldier in France and she was a secretary at NATO. The two married in April 2025 after both became widowed, and she moved in with him in Anniston. He died in January, after which a dispute emerged over his estate, and stepsons redirected his mail from the Alabama residence, causing Ross-Mahé to miss an immigration-related appointment.

A probate judge overseeing the inheritance dispute called for an investigation, accusing one of Ross-Mahé's sons of using his position as a federal employee to prompt his stepmother's detention. A stepson denied any involvement in the arrest.

Other women in the detention facility called Ross-Mahé "Grandma," and she wore a handmade friendship bracelet given to her by another detainee. "The prison was clean, the food was OK, but it was the way they spoke to us. The guards could not speak without yelling," Ross-Mahé said. "Everybody was talking loudly, so everybody could hear what they were saying. But when silence came, you could hear children crying and even babies crying."

She said she continued to think about the women she met in custody, most of whom were from South America, and that the experience had changed her view of the U.S. "During the night, if my bedcover slipped away, I felt a small hand putting it back," she said. "I didn't know who it was, but they pampered me because I was older than them."

French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot called for her release and said that U.S. ICE methods did not align with French standards. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Ross-Mahé had overstayed her visa and that ICE detention facilities were regularly audited and inspected to comply with national standards. "All detainees are provided with proper meals, quality water, blankets [and] medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers. ICE has higher detention standards than most US prisons that hold actual US citizens," the department said.

Ross-Mahé said she was receiving support and intended to seek treatment to address symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress.