According to The New York Times, Texas, Louisiana, and Indiana, as well as seven individuals, sued the federal government over the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), which, along with other items, prioritizes placing Indian children with family members, other Native Americans, or a tribe. According to Daily Wire, "The intention of the law was to end previous actions wherein hundreds of thousands of Native American children were taken from their homes by adoption agencies and put in group areas or given to white families."
Attorneys for the states reportedly told the high court that the law “creates a child-custody regime for Indian children that is determined by a child’s genetics and ancestry,” adding that “this race-based system is designed to make the adoption and fostering of Indian children by non-Indian families a last resort through various legal mechanisms that play favorites based on race.”
“We know the importance of keeping our children connected with their families, communities, and heritage. ICWA has proven itself as the gold standard of child welfare law, which is why both Republican and Democratic administrations, tribes and tribal organizations, and child welfare experts continue to defend it,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and three other tribal leaders said in a statement. “We will never accept a return to a time when our children were forcibly removed from our communities, and look forward to fighting for ICWA before the Court.
Source: "Supreme Court Agrees To Consider Native American Children Adoption Law" by Charlotte Pence Bond for The Daily Wire.
