{"id":9966,"date":"2021-04-08T12:18:03","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T16:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=9966"},"modified":"2021-04-08T12:18:03","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T16:18:03","slug":"california-tribal-families-coalition-responds-to-icwa-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/04\/08\/california-tribal-families-coalition-responds-to-icwa-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"California Tribal Families Coalition responds to ICWA decision"},"content":{"rendered":"\"California\r\n
\u201c[T]here are troubling aspects of the opinion, and we still have work to do as tribes will not accept any reduction in the protections that ICWA has provided tribal children and families for more than 40 years,\u201d Robert Smith, Chairman of the Board of the California Tribal Families Coalition said of a federal appeals court decision in Brackeen v. Haaland, a closely-watched Indian Child Welfare Act case.<\/figcaption>\r\n
California Tribal Families Coalition responds to ICWA decision<\/div>\r\n
Tribes insist ruling in Brackeen v. Haaland won’t impact California<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, April 8, 2021<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe California Tribal Families Coalition<\/a> on April 7, 2021, issued the following statement in response to the federal appeals court decision in Brackeen v. Haaland<\/a>, a closely-watched Indian Child Welfare Act<\/a> case.<\/em>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAfter a 14-month wait, a sharply-divided U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has issued a opinion in Brackeen v. Haaland upholding the U.S. Congress\u2019 authority to enact the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The decision is a triumph for tribes, tribal families, and most importantly, tribal children.

<\/p>\r\nThe California Tribal Families Coalition<\/a> (CTFC) is a coalition of over 40 tribes and tribal leader associations from across the state that has been leading the California tribal response to the Brackeen case. CTFC is currently reviewing the complicated 325-page decision, but an initial inventory of the opinion shows that the decision should have no impact on the ICWA\u2019s application in California.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cFrom the initial analysis of the decision, the news is good as the Equal Protection attack on tribes has failed,\u201d said CTFC Board Chairman Robert Smith, who also serves as Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians. \u201cDespite this, there are troubling aspects of the opinion, and we still have work to do as tribes will not accept any reduction in the protections that ICWA has provided tribal children and families for more than 40 years.\u201d

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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tCalifornia Tribal Families Coalition (@CalTribalFam) on X\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has published its decision in a case challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act (Brackeen v. Haaland) Read CTFC\u2019s statement about the decision below. #ICWA #DefendICWA #ProtectTribalFamilies<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"X\t\tX (formerly Twitter)\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nKey portions of the decision were limited to the Northern District of Texas, so the Congressionally-mandated protections that ICWA has provided for tribal children, families, and tribes, remain in place in California. \u201cThe Court has upheld ICWA and the worst fears for tribes and tribal advocates did not come to fruition. ICWA remains standing, especially in California,\u201d said Teresa Sanchez, a CTFC Board member and a tribal council member with the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the only California tribe to be a direct party in the case.\r\n\u201cWhat happens in Texas does not impact ICWA in California, and California tribal leaders will continue to work with the broad base of supportive state leaders to ensure ICWA continues to apply to our cases and equal protection attacks are overcome,\u201d said James Siva, Vice Chair of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.

<\/p>\r\nThe full panel of the Court, all but 2 of the 16 judges, heard argument on the Brackeen case back in January 2020. The case challenged the constitutionality of the 43-year-old ICWA, the federal law aimed at reversing a history of Indian children being removed from their homes and tribes.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n Twenty six states, including California, and the District of Columbia filed amicus briefs in the case asking the Fifth Circuit to uphold ICWA. Collectively, these states are home to 94% of federally recognized tribes and 69% of the national American Indian and Alaska Native population.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nCalifornia expanded state ICWA protections in 2006 and 2018 through state law, SB 678 and AB 3176, as well as by creating Judicial Council forms and Rules of Court. In addition to state law, the California Department of Social Services and the California Attorney General have affirmed that ICWA, often called the \u201cgold standard\u201d for child welfare practices, remains California law.

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