SANTA ANA, Calif. — An Afghan family of five who traveled to the United States on special visas and were detained by immigration officials at the Los Angeles airport were released from custody, according to the U.S. government and the family’s attorneys.

The mother, father and their three young sons, including a baby, arrived at the airport Thursday for a connecting flight to Washington state, where they planned to resettle.

Instead, U.S. immigration officials detained them and split them up. They planned to send the mother and children to a detention center in Texas, but lawyers intervened over the weekend and got a federal judge to quash the transfer.

Homeland Security officials haven’t said why the family was held, while immigrant advocates asserted in a court petition that there was “absolutely no justification whatsoever.”

Government officials said in a federal court hearing Monday that the family was given back their passports and visas and will be interviewed April 5 in Seattle to determine if they are eligible to use those visas to remain in the United States.

Lawyers said the family never should have been subjected to such treatment after going through the more than yearlong process to obtain special immigrant visas, which are given to foreigners who work for the U.S. military in their countries, often risking their lives.

The father of the family worked different jobs for the U.S. military in Afghanistan for more than a decade and was assaulted and shot during his time there, said attorney Rob Blume.

“It is a victory in a battle that shouldn’t have been fought,” Blume said. “The government swung and missed on this issue, and they just got it wrong.”

U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton said she will retain jurisdiction of the case and that the government cannot detain or remove the family without providing 72 hours’ notice to their attorneys.

After being stopped at Los Angeles International Airport, the father was held at a detention center while his wife and young sons — one who is 8 months old — were initially held at separate detention center and later a hotel, attorneys said.