Source: The Atlantic
A new case is seeking to undermine the restrictions that the Indian Child Welfare Act established on non-Native families adopting Native children and on the separation of Native families.
The restrictions were intended to help keep Native children with Native families and to ensure the system prioritized the placement of a Native child with a Native family who wants to adopt.
However, the case is seeking to undermine those rules and allow non-Native families to adopt a child on a first-come-first-serve basis, and believe the Act “discriminates” against non-Native families.
“The challengers [are] arguing that ICWA, which applies to children who are descendants of members of Native tribes, impermissibly discriminates on the basis of race,” reports The Atlantic.
“Laws that single out particular racial groups are subject to the most rigorous form of judicial scrutiny; therefore, if courts view ICWA as involving a racial distinction, then ICWA may very well be unconstitutional.”
Read Full Story: The Atlantic