icwa

What happened

Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act (Pub. L. 95-608) in 1978 after finding that "an alarmingly high percentage of Indian families are broken up by the removal, often unwarranted, of their children from them by nontribal public and private agencies." It also found that "an alarmingly high percentage of such children are placed in non-Indian foster and adoptive homes and institutions," and that states had "often failed to recognize the essential tribal relations of Indian people."

The Act declares it to be the policy of the Nation "to protect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families by the establishment of minimum Federal standards for the removal of Indian children from their families."

In Haaland v. Brackeen (2023), Texas and individual foster and adoptive parents challenged ICWA on several grounds. The Supreme Court declined to disturb the conclusion that ICWA is consistent with Congress's Article I authority, calling its power over tribes "plenary within its sphere, but even a sizeable sphere has borders." It held that Texas and the individual petitioners lacked standing to challenge the placement preferences on equal protection grounds.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh wrote that the Court "does not address or decide the equal protection issue," and added: "In my view, the equal protection issue is serious." That question remains undecided.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error