Immigration officials this week released four children, all U.S. citizens, to a family friend after the kids were detained with their mother for about two weeks.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol detained the Portland-based mother and children June 28 at Peace Arch Park at the U.S.-Canada border, where they had gone to visit family. The mother "was arrested for attempting to smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S." and requested her children stay with her during detention, a CBP spokesperson said. U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter of Oregon and her team located the family days later at the Ferndale CBP facility in Whatcom County.

Mimi Lettunich, a friend of the family, said the mother is being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. Lettunich said CBP called her Monday afternoon to pick up the young children from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The woman's husband, who was not with the rest of the family at Peace Arch Park, was detained in Portland a few days after her arrest and also taken to the detention center in Tacoma, Lettunich said previously.

CBP confirmed Thursday the mother is in ICE custody and said "removal proceedings have been initiated." The agency declined to answer further questions, citing ongoing litigation.

The mother holds a valid work permit through 2029, according to a letter 12 Congress members wrote to the Department of Homeland Security secretary and CBP commissioner. She also has a pending U visa.

Congress created U visas — reserved for victims of certain crimes — through the 2000 Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act.

CBP's most recently published standards say people should generally not be detained for longer than 72 hours in the agency's holding facilities, which are meant for short-term detention.

The family's attorney, Jill Nedved, filed a lawsuit Monday demanding the family have access to an attorney before being removed from the country, according to a news release from U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen's office.

CBP told Nedved the mother had requested a "voluntary return" and had no right to counsel, according to court documents. The attorney was denied access to a voluntary return document, court records state.

A U.S. District Court Judge issued an emergency temporary restraining order this week to prevent the mother's removal for the time being. She had been "serially re-located and denied contact with Counsel,” according to the order.

As of last Friday, when Nedved spoke at a new conference, the woman had not been charged with a crime. Nedved could not be reached for comment.

The family is at least the second to experience long-term detainment at a Washington Border Patrol facility this year. In May, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported a pregnant mother of four spent three weeks in custody at Blaine Border Patrol Station.

Lettunich said the children are happy to be out of detainment, but "extremely concerned about the parents."

"They shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place, she said.

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