She was taken by the Department of Children and Families in Santa Clarita and placed with relatives of her father in Utah. Lexi had sobbed as she was taken away, begging her father: 'Don't let them take me away.'. There is still considerable disagreement over the application of the law and whether it serves children's best interest, said Ralph Richard Banks, a professor at Stanford Law School. Lexi lived four of her first six years with a non-Native American California foster family, but because she . They say tribes are a political classification, not a racial one, and overturning the Indian Child Welfare Act would lead to untold damage in tribal communities. He said the Indian Child Welfare Act may have been well-intentioned, but it illegally segregates Native American children by race and has upended his clients' lives. Lexi cried and clutched a stuffed bear on Monday as Rusty Page carried her out of his home near Los Angeles and Los Angeles County social workers whisked her away in a waiting car. LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Summer and Rusty Page say they "will never ever stop fighting for Lexi," their 6-year-old foster daughter who was taken from their Santa Clarita home and placed with relatives in Utah under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act. Her name is Lexi," the petition said. Copyright 2023 by The Associated Press. You have reached your limit of free articles. Wenona Singel, a law professor at Michigan State University, said membership requirements vary among tribes, with some being more restrictive than others. Maldonado and her husband have an adopted son from a neighboring tribe. "Fundamentally, the issue here is that the Indian Child Welfare Act subordinates individualized considerations of a child's best interest in favor of a blunt assumption that being placed with a tribe is going to be better for the tribe, and that's just demonstrably untrue," he said. Summer Page runs out of her home after social workers took her foster child way. The Goldwater Institute, a conservative legal organization, brought a proposed class-action lawsuit challenging ICWA directly in 2015. I'm scared. There is a healthy debate going on in this country about whether the Indian Child Welfare Act is on balance a good thing, or not, as a policy matter. In the meantime, our clients hope that the family in Utah will follow through on their promise to keep Lexi in contact with her family in Los Angeles. Lexi is now living with relatives of her father who are not Native American. Lawmakers found that Native American families were broken up at disproportionately high rates, and that cultural ignorance and biases within the child welfare system were largely to blame. An independent clinical psychologist was brought in to gauge her ability to transition from the foster home to her relatives. "Only because of the Indian Child Welfare Act, (and) people following it, he has a community," she said. She has a broken nose, a cheekbone and also a hole in her jaw. The Supreme Court made no comment when it denied certiorari in the case Monday (PDF). Lawmakers found that Native American families were broken up at disproportionately high rates, and that cultural ignorance and biases within the child welfare system were largely to blame. The wrenching dispute echoes themes of the 2013 Baby Veronica case, in which an adoptive family sued for custody of a young Cherokee girl after her biological father renounced paternal rights. She underwent her first surgery just last night but has been unable to sleep well because of the pain and the trauma. The girl, Lexi, was taken away from foster parents Rusty and Summer Page on March 21, 2015, after about four years living with the family. Lexi, who is 1/64th Native American, was 17 months old when she was removed from the of her birth parents. Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978 because a high number of Native American children were being removed from their homes by public and private agencies. A California appeals court affirmed in July a lower courts decision to remove the girl. By Posted ekologisk jord storsck In felskning parkeringssensor volvo. Relatives are relatives.. Under the transfer, Lexi will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father. 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Garland testifies before Senate panel amid ongoing special counsel probes, Colon cancer rates rising in younger age group, study finds, Top McCarthy aide, House Oversight chair each met with Ashli Babbitt's mother, What to know about Shigella bacteria as drug-resistant strain spreads, Closing arguments underway in double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, Ex-Georgia star Jalen Carter was racing in deadly crash, arrest warrants allege, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students. "Early this morning, we learned that the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear our case," the Pages wrote in a statement on the SaveOurLexi Facebook page. , updated 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. 0 . Lexi can remain where she. Their attorney argued the lower court made an error by failing to take into account Lexi's bond with her foster parents and siblings. Lexi clutched a teddy bear and cried as she was taken from the Pages' home on March 21 as neighbors prayed and sang hymns in support of the family. She says she's an apple, red on the outside, white on the inside.". Removal 1830-1862. A 6-year-old girl was removed from the California home of the foster family she has lived with for four years because she has a tiny sliver of Native American heritage despite resistance from her foster parents and their tens of thousands of supporters. The relatives are not Native American but Lexi was reunited with biological sister. If the good-cause exception isn't satisfied in this case, it is difficult to imagine when it ever would be. Last month, her kindergarten class gave her an award for being the most caring student. Forrest Hanson For Dailymail.com "To say we are heartbroken is an understatement.". They were also designed to give state courts flexibility to depart from the placement preferences where there is "good cause" to do so. We will continue to expeditiously pursue our appeal through the state courts in California, and, if necessary, to the U.S. Supreme Court. Regardless of tribal membership, Lexi should be allowed to live with her family, just as all children in any deprived case should.. Our clients have been the only consistent source of love, nurturing, parenting, and protection she has received her entire life. The law has led to some emotional, high-profile cases, including one in 2016 in which a court ordered that a young Choctaw girl named Lexi be removed from a California foster family and placed with her father's extended family in Utah. Rusty Page told KNX-AM radio. Last March, she was taken from her foster home near Los Angeles, and a state appeals court in July upheld the girl's removal from the Page home. Don't let me go. McGill also requested that custody of the child named Lexi be returned to Rusty and Summer Page until the appeal is decided. The case was one of dozens brought by foster families since the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in the late 1970s. ", Page said he responded: "I have to because the county of L.A. said I have to.". For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Here are the world's 25 best beaches and top 10 in the U.S. Elizabeth Holmes has second child, seeks to delay prison, remove a six-year-old girl with Native American ancestry from her foster family, asked the appeals court to reverse a lower court ruling. Lexi, who is 1.5 percent, or 1/64 Choctaw, was six years old when she was taken from her foster home near Los Angeles in a tearful parting last March. It means if youre a foster family and if you have an Indian child, you should be terrified that your child could be taken at any time, says Mark Fiddler, a Minnesota attorney who represented the adoptive parents in the Baby Veronica case. Her mother had substance abuse problems, and her father had a criminal history, according to court records. By The case was decided in the California court system three separate times, with three different trial court judges ruling in favor of Lexi's relatives in Utah. Lexi loves horses and art. The law was designed to help Native American families remain intact. Because Lexi is 1.5% Native American, the Choctaw Tribe was able to completely tear apart Lexi's life due to an egregious misapplication of the Indian Child Welfare Act. A federal judge in Texas ruled the Indian Child Welfare Act is unconstitutional, saying it is racially motivated and violates the equal protection clause. While it is unclear what she is up to now in terms of her career, Lexi has enjoyed traveling quite a bit in the meantime. First published on March 12, 2019 / 8:06 AM. The documents said that Lexi is related to the Utah couple, who are not Native American, through her step-grandfather. The family's lawyer, Lori Alvino McGill, filed the request for the California Supreme Court to hear the appeal. To Lexi this family is her everything her mommy, daddy and brother and sisters. By Monday afternoon, more than 40,000 people had signed the petition. Alexa suffered injuries on her face. The girl's sister is living with the couple, and another sister will be living down the street, said Leslie Heimov of the Children's Law Center of California, Lexi's court-appointed legal representatives. Attorneys general in Texas, Indiana and Louisiana joined in suing the federal government over the Indian Child Welfare Act in 2017. An independent clinical psychologist was brought in to gauge her ability to transition from the foster home to her relatives. 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