An 85-year-old French citizen, Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé, describes her detention last month at a Louisiana immigration facility after US authorities arrested her for missing an immigration appointment. According to her account as reported by outlets including The Guardian and Stuff.co.nz, the facility’s night hours were marked by crying from children and babies, which she said began when the wailing started after dark. Both reports frame her detention as part of a broader US immigration crackdown during the Trump administration and note that her experience drew international attention.
Ross-Mahé also discusses personal context, including a late-in-life relationship that involved her time in the United States, and she speaks about conditions she observed in detention. The accounts say she was released nearly a month later and, after that, was willing to describe what she experienced. The reports do not provide additional details on the specific legal proceedings connected to the missed appointment or on the facility’s policies, but they consistently describe her age, nationality, the arrest trigger, the Louisiana location, and the emphasis on the atmosphere in the holding area.
