LANSING – In anticipation of the United States Supreme Court’s decision on Haaland v. Brackeen, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued the following statement:
“When Congress enacted the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in 1978, more than a century of federal Indian policy had worked to breakup Indian families and, with them, Indian tribes,” said Nessel. “As Congress explicitly recognized in ICWA, ‘[T]here is no resource that is more vital to the continued existence and integrity of Indian tribes than their children ….’ ICWA has been an important legal tool to end that dark history.”
Today, we are awaiting the United States Supreme Court’s decision on a challenge to ICWA, Haaland v. Brackeen. The Supreme Court is expected to decide the case by the end of June.
Nessel continued, “My department will be studying that decision closely and is working with Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that Indian children continue to be raised in their families and tribal communities. While ICWA provides an important, national approach to preserving Indian families and tribal communities, Michigan is well-positioned to maintain the critical bonds between Indian children, their families, and their tribal communities under the Michigan Indian Family Preservation Act.”
AG Nessel joined a bipartisan coalition to support upholding critical protections guaranteed under ICWA, and has urged the Supreme Court to reject the current challenge.
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