Eight of the 10 U.S. missionaries behind bars in Haiti will be allowed to return home, nearly three weeks after being charged with child trafficking, a Haitian judge said Wednesday.

The eight being released agreed to return to Haiti if the judge calls them back. The other two are being kept for further questioning.

"We expected that," said Gary Lissade, an attorney representing one of the Americans.

The missionaries were arrested after trying to take 33 children across the border to the Dominican Republic. They did not have the right paperwork and were charged with kidnapping. All of them have denied the accusations, saying they were only trying to rescue the children from the quake-ravaged region.

It is unclear what would happen to the Americans who will not be released.

Earlier this month, the group fired their first legal adviser when it was revealed he was wanted for smuggling charges in the United States and El Salvador.