Will Dispute Led ICE To Put 85-Year-Old Widow In Immigration Detention

LeadershipLeadership StrategiesWill Dispute Led ICE To Put 85-Year-Old Widow In Immigration DetentionByStuart Anderson,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Stuart Anderson writes about immigration, business and globalization.Follow AuthorApr 21, 2026, 09:55am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.An agent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) waits in a hallway outside of a courtroom at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York on July 17, 2025. Personal motive involving an inheritance led Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to arrest and detain an 85-year-old French widow, according to a probate judge. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesPersonal motive involving an inheritance led Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to arrest and detain an 85-year-old French widow, according to a probate judge. The arrest generated outrage in France and caused an Alabama probate judge to demand a federal investigation. The detention of an 85-year-old woman raises questions about the Trump administration’s insistence that ICE targets the “worst of the worst.” Attorneys say the arrest shows the danger of allowing individuals with personal or financial motives to decide or influence federal immigration law enforcement matters. An Immigration Case That Started With A Decades-Long Friendship And MarriageMarie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé became friends with Bill Ross in the 1950s, when they were teenagers working at a NATO base in France. After staying in communication for years, the two became widowed, fell in love and married. Ross-Mahé moved to Alabama and into Bill Ross’s house.Ross-Mahé started the immigration process but, in January 2026, Bill Ross died. “Mr. Ross left no will, and an ugly fight ensued with his two adult sons,” reported Catherine Por...