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French Government Seeks Release of 86-Year-Old Widow Detained by ICE

The case spotlights DHS’s stricter focus on 90-day visa waivers for recent entrants.

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ICE agents seen inside Terminal B at LaGuardia, New York, NY, March 23, 2026. ICE agents have been deployed to JFK, Newark (NJ) and LaGuardia airports amid TSA shortages; President trump confirmed Sunday that immigration agents will be sent to airports across the country starting Monday as TSA officers have not been paid and calling out of work as Congress remains stalled over a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security. (Photo by Anthony Behar/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)
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Overview

  • ICE detained Marie-Thérèse Helene Ross in Anniston, Alabama, on April 1, and DHS says she overstayed a 90-day Visa Waiver after a June 2025 entry.
  • Ross, who moved to Alabama in 2025 and married William Ross that April, lost her husband in January before her green card was finalized.
  • French Consul General Rodolphe Sambou said the government is fully mobilized, has contacted DHS, and has visited her twice at a Louisiana detention facility.
  • Her family reports she was cuffed at wrists and ankles, has heart and back problems, and is held with about 70 detainees, with contact restored only after a consular visit.
  • Under the Visa Waiver Program, visitors can stay up to 90 days and a pending marriage-based green card does not prevent an overstay finding, leaving ICE to decide on release, supervision, or removal as enforcement expands under the current administration.