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Marie-Thérèse had moved to the US after reuniting with her long-lost love, an American man who died in January.
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Marie-Thérèse, who is from the city of Nantes, moved to the US last year after marrying her long-lost love, Billy - an American man who died in January.
Her son sounded the alarm after his mother was arrested in Anniston, Alabama, earlier this month.
"Mum is finally free! It's a total relief," French outlet Ouest-France quoted him as saying following her release.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed Marie-Thérèse had arrived back in the country on Friday morning, adding: "We are pleased about that."
The New York Times, citing one of her sons, reported that she was still dressed in her prison uniform, which was covered in stains and holes, when he and his siblings were reunited with her at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.
"She was in a state of shock and was physically and spiritually exhausted after the ordeal," he said.
The US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told the BBC earlier this week that an "illegal alien from France" matching Marie-Thérèse's name had entered the country in June 2025 and overstayed her 90-day visa.
According to an earlier report by Ouest-France, her son said she was awaiting a green card when she was detained.
He told the paper that his mother had met Billy in the 1960s, when he was a soldier stationed at the Nato base of Saint-Nazaire and she was a secretary.
Billy later returned to the US and they lost touch, going on to marry other people and have children. The pair reconnected in 2010 and visited one another with their spouses, Ouest-France reported.
By 2022, both were widowed and started a relationship. Billy was a "charming, adorable man", Marie-Thérèse's son said, adding that the couple were in love "like teenagers".
They married last year and Marie-Thérèse relocated to Alabama, applying
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