U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport have released three detained children who are U.S. citizens and traveling with an adult deemed "inadmissible."
The children were released Thursday to their mother after intervention by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Customs officials say a Mexican Consulate official arranged for the girls' mother to retrieve them without fear she would be taken into custody.
Schakowsky happened to arrive at O'Hare from Washington on Thursday. She says what happened was "a kind of kidnapping of children by our government."
Lightfoot later tweeted her thanks for those "whose quick and decisive actions" helped resolve the situation.
Schakowsky said the children traveled with an adult who had a valid visa. The adult was to be sent back to Mexico.
