Overview
- The 86-year-old returned to France on Friday, the foreign minister said, after ICE arrested her April 1 in Anniston, Alabama, and held her about two weeks in a Louisiana detention center.
- U.S. officials cited her lack of a green card after her temporary authorization ended 90 days after her husband's January death, which left her without lawful status while her application was pending.
- An Alabama probate judge said the late husband's sons rerouted her mail and caused a missed immigration hearing, removed them from administering the estate, appointed an independent administrator, and asked federal authorities to investigate the arrest.
- Family members said agents took her from home in a nightgown and robe and shackled her hands and feet, describing treatment they saw as excessive for an 86-year-old widow.
- French consular work helped secure her return, though reporters say it is not clear whether she was deported or left voluntarily, and the inquiry the judge requested could widen scrutiny of how immigration enforcement intersects with local inheritance fights.