85-year-old French woman describes ordeal in Louisiana ICE facility

Marie‑Thérèse Ross thought she was building a quiet life in Alabama with the man she loved. Instead, the 85‑year‑old French widow of a U.S. veteran found herself handcuffed in her pajamas, held for 16 days in an immigration facility where she says she heard babies crying in the night — an experience she now describes as life‑altering.

Ross says the Louisiana detention centre where she was held housed 58 women in a single dormitory. The noise was constant — until it wasn’t.

“When the silence came… you could hear children crying and even babies crying,” she said. “There’s babies in this jail.”

Her arrest on April 1, during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, drew international attention.

She was detained for allegedly overstaying her visa, despite being the widow of a U.S. military veteran.

A sudden arrest, a disorienting ordeal

Ross recalls five men banging on her Alabama home at 8 a.m. She was handcuffed while still in her bathrobe and slippers.

Two days later, she was transferred to a facility in Basile, Louisiana.

Many of the women detained with her were mothers.

“Some of them didn’t know where their children were,” she said. “It’s terrible for a woman not to know where her children are.”

Solidarity in confinement

Despite the harsh conditions, Ross describes moments of tenderness.

Younger detainees called her “Grandma.” One woman quietly pulled her blanket back over her at night.

Another made her a friendship bracelet — which Ross still wears.

But the emotional toll remains. Her family says she struggles with memory gaps and distress.

She plans to seek medical care in France for symptoms consistent with trauma.

A love story turned nightmare

Ross met her husband, retired U.S. soldier William B. Ross, in the 1950s when he was stationed in France and she worked at NATO.

They married in 2025, decades after their first encounter. After his death in January, a dispute over his estate escalated.

A judge found that her stepson allegedly intervened to prompt her detention.

According to U.S. authorities, Ross had overstayed her 90‑day visa.

A changed view of America

Ross says her experience shattered her image of the United States.

She and her husband had watched Fox News together; he supported Trump.

She believed the U.S. was a place where people were treated fairly.

Now, she says, she sees a system that detains women who “did not deserve it.”

Speaking out for those left behind

Back home in western France, Ross says she cannot forget the women she left behind — most of them from South America, many separated from their children.

“If I ever had the chance to speak about them, I would do it,” she said. “To help them.”