A4J Celebrates the Protection of ICWA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2023
Media contact: Rachel Koelzer, rachel@nakasec.org, (213) 703-0992

Adoptees For Justice Celebrates the Protection of ICWA

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled on the case of Haaland v. Brackeen on the legality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). In a 7-2 ruling, SCOTUS “upheld a 1978 law aimed at keeping Native American adoptees with their tribes and traditions.” Passed in 1978, ICWA protects Indigenous (“Indian”) nations and communities by prioritizing the placement of Indigenous children into Indigenous homes.

Adoptees For Justice, a project of the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC), released the following statement:
We are thrilled with the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold tribal sovereignty.

For centuries, Native nations and peoples have endured genocide and systemic oppression – the effects of which are still endured today. One systemic strategy was the intentional removal of Native children from their homes and communities and placement into non-Native homes. This practice ensured that children were severed from their communities and cultural knowledge, and that generations were lost from Native communities. ICWA, passed in 1978, recognized the lasting harm of these practices and helped protect Native communities.

Adoptees have voiced for decades that transnational and transracial adoption creates trauma and difficulties with mental, physical, and socioemotional health. According to the New York Times, medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, have weighed in to support ICWA, arguing that it is an important tool to help redress “the intergenerational pain of lost connections and the trauma of historical loss.”

As an organization led by transnational and transracial adoptees, we understand firsthand the deep and lasting impacts of loss of culture, language, representation, and shared lived understanding. A child’s well-being includes their whole self – their biological, physical, emotional, mental, social, and cultural experiences. For Native nations who have endured great harm, all efforts must be made to support Native children, families, and communities. While we know challenges will continue, we remain steadfast in our solidarity with Indigenous nations and our commitment to adoptees.

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Adoptees For Justice is an intercountry adoptee-led organization whose mission is to educate, empower, and organize transracial and transnational adoptee communities to achieve just and humane adoption, immigration, and restorative justice systems.  Adoptees For Justice is a project of the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC), whose mission is to to organize Korean and Asian Americans to achieve social, racial and economic justice.