86-year-old French woman is being held by ICE after moving to the United States to see her long-lost love.

 

A warehouse used as an ICE detention centre in the state of Utah (file pic)(Image: Getty Images)

An 86-year-old French woman is being held at an immigration enforcement center in Louisiana. She moved to the United States last year after rekindling a relationship from the 1960s. After Marie-Thérèse's arrest in Anniston, Alabama, earlier in April, the Nantes-based son of Marie-Thérèse raised the alarm. He stated to the French publication Ouest-France, "They handcuffed her hands and feet like she was a dangerous criminal." According to the BBC, an "illegal alien from France" with Marie-Thérèse's name entered the country in June 2025 and overstayed her 90-day visa, according to the US Department of Homeland Security (ICE). However, according to her son, Marie-Thérèse was detained while awaiting a green card. After marrying Billy, an American man whom she had met in the 1960s while he was a soldier stationed in the Nato base of Saint-Nazaire and she was a secretary, Marie-Thérèse mother had relocated to the United States. Billy had been her long-lost love. In 1966, Billy went back to the US. He and Marie-Thérèse lost touch, got married - each in their own country - and had children.

 According to Ouest-France, the two reconnected in 2010 and went on vacation together with their spouses.

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By 2022, both were widowed and started a relationship.  According to Marie-Thérèse's son, Billy was a "charming, adorable man," and the couple fell in love "like teenagers." They married last year and Marie-Thérèse relocated to Alabama, applying for a green card - a long-term visa - that would grant her the right to remain in the US.

 When Billy died suddenly in January, she had not yet received the green card, so her immigration status was unclear. Shortly after Billy's death, his son and Marie-Thérèse reportedly entered a dispute over his inheritance.

 Her son told Ouest-France that Billy's son "threatened her, intimidated her, and even went so far as to cut off her water, internet, and electricity." Marie-Thérèse hired a lawyer, but the day before a scheduled hearing, ICE arrested her. Her kids were informed by her neighbors. There is no proof that it was a report by Billy's son that landed his stepmother in an ICE detention centre.

 The French foreign ministry is involved and Marie-Thérèse had received a consular visit, her son told French media.  He went on to say that his mother was a "fighter" and was "holding up well," but that she had problems with her heart and back.

"Our priority is to get her out of this detention center and repatriate her to France.  She won't last a month in these conditions of detention, given her health," he stated. ICE has been at the forefront of Donald Trump's administration's mass deportation strategy ever since the beginning of his second term. Its budget and mission have been significantly expanded and it plays a key role in removing undocumented immigrants from the US.

 Marie-Thérèse's son said his story "was like a bad American film.  I tell myself every morning when I wake up that nothing is true and that it was just a nightmare.

Source: BBC