Maryland Judge Blocks Trump Administration's Fast-Track Asylum Interviews for Unaccompanied Migrant Children

WASHINGTON, A federal judge in Maryland has temporarily barred the Trump administration from fast-tracking asylum interviews for unaccompanied migrant children, ruling that the government's reduced-notice policies likely conflict with federal child-protection law.

U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson, sitting in Greenbelt, Md., issued the temporary restraining order Oct. 30. The order has nationwide effect and runs through Nov. 13, according to a ruling reviewed by Bloomberg Law.

The dispute centers on two USCIS policy changes adopted this summer. The first, rolled out in September 2026, stripped the longstanding requirement that unaccompanied children receive at least 21 days' written notice before their asylum interviews. Attorneys for the plaintiffs told the court that notice shrank to as little as less than 24 hours under the new regime. The second change, announced Aug. 21, limited requests to reschedule an interview to cases with "exceptional circumstances."

Judge Hurson ordered USCIS to revert to the prior 21-day notice standard and to restore the earlier rescheduling procedures. Plaintiffs accused the administration, including USCIS Director Joseph Edlow, of slashing the notice period in ways that left children and their lawyers no meaningful time to prepare, according to Bloomberg Law's account of the ruling.

In the order, Hurson wrote that the policy changes directly conflict with the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which requires the asylum process to account for the particular needs of unaccompanied children. Citing that statute, Hurson found that each child gets only one shot at a non-adversarial asylum adjudication before an officer, and that the shortened notice effectively nullified that opportunity.

The National Immigration Law Center, one of the legal services providers backing the plaintiffs, said the order "restores basic procedural protections for immigrant children navigating the asylum process without a parent or caregiver," in a statement the organization issued after the ruling.

The suit, filed Oct. 15, names the USCIS director and the Department of Homeland Security as defendants. The administration has defended its broader effort to move migrant-child cases through USCIS more quickly as a way to cut agency backlogs and close what officials have called avenues for abuse of the system.

The temporary restraining order does not affect immigration court proceedings; children whose USCIS claims are denied may still seek protection before an immigration judge. The court is expected to take up the question of a longer-lasting preliminary injunction before the restraining order lapses Nov. 13.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. The Justice Department declined to comment on pending litigation.

Sources cited:
- Bloomberg Law (https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/trump-must-temporarily-halt-fast-track-asylum-system-for-kids)
- Just Security, Early Edition, Nov. 2, 2026 (https://www.justsecurity.org/162991/early-edition-november-2-2026/)
- National Immigration Law Center (https://www.nilc.org/press/advocates-unaccompanied-children-applaud-judges-decision-block-the-government-rushing-asylum-proceedings/)
- Court Cast (https://courtscast.com/us-court-halts-trump-administrations-push-to-speed-up-deportation-cases-involving-migrant-children/)
- Visa Verge (https://www.visaverge.com/uscis/judge-orders-uscis-to-give-21-day-notice-for-minors-asylum-interviews/)