85-year-old widow is released from US custody, returns to France amid messy family dispute
PARIS (AP) — An 85-year-old French widow who moved to the U.S. to start a new life with an American military veteran she first met more than half a century ago is back in France again after a harrowing 16 days spent in federal immigration custody.
“She returned to France this morning. This is a satisfaction for us,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters during a visit to the southern city of Montpellier on Friday. Barrot said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement methods are “not in line” with French standards and are “not acceptable to us.”
Marie-Thérèse Ross entered the U.S. last June after marrying a retired U.S. soldier who had been stationed in her home country in the 1960s, court records show. But after her husband died of natural causes in January, a dispute arose over his estate. Ross' stepson — a U.S. federal employee — allegedly intervened to have her taken into immigration custody, an Alabama judge found.
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.
“She’s very tired, she’s not very good, but it’s difficult for her,” Goix said. “We are very, very happy, but we are tired.”
Ross was not given the medication she needed while being held in the Louisiana detention facility, according to her attorney Kim Willingham.
“She does not feel she or other inmates are being treated well within the facility,” Willingham told the AP. “She did everything she was supposed to do with regard to obtaining her green card.”
Ross gave up her pension and moved to Alabama last year to marry William B. Ross, Calhoun County court records show. But after William B. Ross died without making estate plans, his two sons sought to take control of his modest assets totaling less than $190,000 in value, including the home in Anniston, Alabama, where Marie-Thérèse Ross 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 — a former Alabama State Trooper who now works as a federal employee — of using his position to prompt the detention of his stepmother days before a hearing over the estate.
Marie-Thérèse 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 shortly after federal immigration agents removed their stepmother.
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.
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Riddle reported from Anniston, AL. Brook reported from New Orleans.
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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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