I have an article in National Review today about the Indian Child Welfare Act, which will be going before the Supreme Court next week. Although tribal politicians like to claim that the Act is some kind of help for Native kids, the reality is that it's the opposite of an affirmative action program; it's a detriment to Indian children:
The rules the ICWA imposes on “Indian children” are less protective of their safety than are the rules that apply to other children. Consider, for example, the ICWA’s “active efforts” requirement. Under the laws of every state, when a child is taken into protective custody to shield her from abusive parents, state officials must make “reasonable efforts” to return her to her parents. That means making anger-management or alcohol-treatment programs available to the family. But these “reasonable efforts” are not required in cases involving “aggravated circumstances,” such as sexual molestation or drug addiction — because it would be foolhardy to send children back to homes that the state knows will only harm them again.
For “Indian children,” however, the rule is different. The ICWA’s “active efforts” provision requires more than reasonable efforts (although the act doesn’t define the term “active efforts”) and the law includes no “aggravated circumstances” exception to the provision. As a result, state child-welfare officers are legally required to return Indian children to homes they know are abusive — a rule that does not apply to white, black, Asian, or Hispanic children. Unsurprisingly, that has resulted in case after case after case of Indian children being murdered by parents who state officials know are dangerous.
If you can't read that article because of the paywall, I also have a shorter article about ICWA in Attorney at Law magazine today. Excerpt:
ICWA requires that Indian children be adopted by “Indian families”—including adults of other tribes—instead of adults of other races. That means a Seminole child must be adopted by a Lakota or Ojibwe family instead of by a white, black, Asian, or Hispanic family. And because there’s a shortage of Native families looking to adopt, the result is that “Indian” children are denied opportunities for safe, loving, permanent homes—which would never happen if they were of a different race.
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