For Immediate Release
June 15, 2023
Contact:
Manu Tupper (Schatz) at press@indian.senate.gov
Schatz ApplaudS Supreme Court Decision Upholding Indian Child Welfare Act
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision rejecting all challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in Haaland v. Brackeen.
“The Supreme Court just validated what Indian Country and Tribal advocates have been saying for generations: the Indian Child Welfare Act is the gold standard of child welfare policy,” said Chairman Schatz. “I applaud today’s decision, which upholds the constitutionality of this landmark law, respects Tribal sovereignty, and protects the best interests of Indian children.”
Congress enacted ICWA in 1978 to prevent the unwarranted removal of Indian children from their families and Tribal communities in child welfare and adoption proceedings.
In an April 2021 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld certain sections of ICWA and flagged constitutional concerns about others, prompting appeals on both sides. The U.S. Supreme Court granted petitions to review the Fifth Circuit’s decision and heard the case last November. Eighty-seven Members of Congress filed a bipartisan, bicameral amicus brief defending ICWA’s constitutionality in Haaland v. Brackeen.
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