WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Haaland v. Brackeen, which affirms the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA):
“I stand with Native American communities in celebrating today’s Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Protecting Native American children means protecting tribal sovereignty and the future of Tribal Nations. Congress passed ICWA in 1978 to end the forced removal of Native children from their families and communities. Today’s ruling cannot undo the shameful practices of the past, but it can help us avoid them in the future as we work to meet our legal and moral obligations to Tribes and Native children.”
Congress passed ICWA in 1978 after receiving testimony that 25 to 35 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native children were removed from their homes by state and private adoption agencies. ICWA sets best-practice standards for child welfare and adoption proceedings involving children who are members of a federally-recognized Tribe or are eligible for membership in a federally-recognized Tribe. Over four decades, the law has become the “gold standard” for child welfare policy and keeping Native children connected to their communities and cultures.
In 2019, over 70 members of Congress, including Heinrich,filed a bipartisan, bicameral brief supporting ICWA in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. But 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. In 2022, Heinrich, along with 86 Members of Congress, again filed a bipartisan, bicameral amicus brief defending ICWA’s constitutionality in Haaland v. Brackeen. The U.S. Supreme Court granted petitions to review the Fifth Circuit’s decision and heard the case last November.
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