Supreme Court Considers Dismantling Native Sovereignty in "Haaland v. Brackeen"

In June 2016, a 10-month-old Navajo boy was placed with Chad and Jennifer Brackeen, a former civil engineer and an anesthesiologist, respectively, after his Navajo mother (who lived in Texas) was found to be using drugs.[5] The father of the child is Cherokee. In 2017 a Texas state court terminated the parental rights of both the biological parents.[fn 1][7] Under the provisions of the ICWA, the Navajo Nation stepped in and sought to place the child with a Navajo family, but that failed and the Brackeens were allowed to adopt the child.[8] The Brackeens later attempted to adopt the boy's sister in state court, but the girl's extended family also sought to take in the girl.[9] The Brackeens then filed suit in federal court to overturn the ICWA on the grounds of racial discrimination.[10] This approach would "completely erase [...] tribal sovereignty" according to Lauren van Schilfgaarde, a tribal sovereignty advocate.[fn 2][12]

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