85-YEAR-OLD FRENCH WOMAN RELEASED FROM US IMMIGRATION DETENTION AFTER 16-DAY HOLD, RETURNS TO FRANCE . (PHOTO).

 85-year-old French woman released from US immigration detention after 16-day hold, returns to France 

An 85-year-old French woman who spent 16 days in U.S. immigration detention has returned to France, where she was reunited with her family at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport on Friday.

French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed her return, telling reporters that the case involved “acts of violence” that raised concern for French authorities. He said officials were relieved she was back in France.

She was greeted at the airport by her three adult children. According to family members, she appeared physically and emotionally exhausted after the ordeal and was still wearing clothing from detention when she arrived, including orange shoes, sweatpants, and a gray sweater.

The woman, identified as Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé, is a French citizen who had moved to Alabama after marrying a former U.S. Army serviceman she had known decades earlier in France while they were both teenagers working on a NATO base. The two reconnected later in life after becoming widowed and married, and she began the process of establishing her immigration status in the United States.

Her husband died unexpectedly in January, triggering a dispute over his estate between family members. In the months that followed, tensions escalated among relatives.

On April 1, immigration officials arrested Ross-Mahé at her home in Anniston, Alabama, and placed her in detention. The arrest occurred amid an ongoing probate dispute involving her late husband’s estate, according to court-related accounts referenced by local officials.

Her return to France ends a 16-day detention that drew attention from officials in both countries and prompted concern over the circumstances surrounding her arrest and treatment.