Daijiworld Media Network – Washington

Washington, May 13: Marie-Thérèse Ross, an 85-year-old French woman who was detained by US immigration authorities in Louisiana earlier this year, has spoken publicly about her traumatic experience in custody, describing overcrowded dormitories, crying children and harsh treatment by guards.

Ross, widow of a retired US military veteran, was arrested in Alabama on April 1 over an alleged visa overstay amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. She spent 16 days in federal immigration detention before being released and returning to France.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Ross said the nights inside the Louisiana detention facility were particularly distressing.

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

Ross said she was housed in a dormitory-style room with 58 women, many of them mothers separated from their children.

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

According to Ross, immigration officers arrived at her Alabama residence early in the morning, handcuffed her while she was still in her bathrobe and slippers, and took her into custody before transferring her to a detention centre in Basile, Louisiana.

Ross had moved to the United States after marrying retired US soldier William B. Ross, whom she had first met decades earlier while working as a secretary at NATO in France. The two reconnected after both became widowed and married last year before she relocated to Alabama.

Following her husband’s death in January, a dispute reportedly emerged over his estate. An Alabama judge later suggested in a court order that one of Ross’s stepsons may have used his position as a federal employee to influence her detention, though he denied involvement.

The US Department of Homeland Security maintained that Ross had overstayed her visa and defended conditions inside immigration detention centres, stating that detainees are provided with meals, medical care and communication access.

Ross, however, described guards as constantly shouting at detainees and treating them harshly despite the facility being physically clean.

“The prison was clean, the food was OK, but it was the way they spoke to us,” she said.

Despite the ordeal, Ross recalled moments of kindness from fellow detainees, many of whom affectionately called her “Grandma”. She said one woman made her a friendship bracelet from strips of coloured plastic, which she continues to wear.

Now recovering with family in western France, Ross said the experience has deeply altered her perception of the United States and its immigration system.

“I used to think America was a country of freedom,” she said, adding that many of the women she met “did not deserve to be detained.”

Ross said she hopes to continue speaking publicly about the conditions faced by immigrant detainees, especially mothers separated from their children.