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. Many steps have been taken by the Choctaw Nation to ensure the best placement of Lexi. What happened yesterday should never happen, to any child. A federal judge in Texas ruled the Indian Child Welfare Act is unconstitutional, saying it is racially motivated and violates the equal protection clause. It means that Indian kids will not have the same stability that non-Indian kids have. The Pages say they have repeatedly tried to adopt Lexi since she came to live with them when she was two-years-old. ABC's Kayna Whitworth has the details from Los Angeles. The result here is all the more senseless because placing Lexi with her non-Indian extended family members does nothing to further ICWA's purpose of keeping children connected to their tribes. Lexi's case is one of dozens brought by foster families since the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed. On March 21, Los Angeles County social workers came to Rusty and Summer Pages home to take Lexi away. "The Choctaw Nation has advocated for Lexi to live with her family since 2011," the tribe said in a statement. Rusty Page told KNX-AM radio. Removal 1830-1862. But he believes that shouldnt matter here. AccuWeather: AM showers before a mild afternoon, Teammate facing charges in crash that killed local UGA player, Teens in stolen car crash into school bus on way to field trip in NJ. Her family will provide her a safe, stable and nurturing home to grow up with her sisters and to have contact with her extensive extended family. Fans of the social media star dropped encouraging comments for her and wished her a speedy recovery. Often there are no easy solutions, but when a court makes an order, we must follow it, said the departments director, Philip Browning. The LA DCFS said in a statement that the department always seeks to act in the best interest of the children it serves. "The issue is not what degree of Choctaw ancestry a child has," Singel said. Lexi's foster dad, Rusty, sobs after she is driven away March 21, 2016 in Santa Clarita, Calif. Schools on Native American reservations in state of disrepair, Flying bug found at Walmart turns out to be rare Jurassic-era insect. Her former foster parents, Rusty and Summer Page, asked the appeals court to reverse a lower court ruling that ordered them to surrender Lexi. "There is a 6-year-old little girl who is going to be ripped away from the only family that she has ever known. All Rights Reserved. . The comments below have not been moderated, By 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. "There's no doubt in my mind that what happened to Lexi should have never occurred," said Lauren Axline, a former foster care worked who handled Lexi's case in the past. Santa Clarita, Calif., March 21, 2016, PEZ Cancels Easter Egg Hunt After Parents Cause Huge 'Mess', How We Can Learn to Live with COVID-19 After Vaccinations. "They are not strangers in any way, shape or form. The foster family understood this. what happened to lexi choctaw 2021. Lexi's safety and wellbeing are the Choctaw Nation's paramount concern. She did make the mat for Daytona 2020 but unfortunately never got to perform one final time as the . There is a 6-year-old little girl who is going to be ripped away from the only family that she has ever known. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. ", The National Indian Child Welfare Association said in a statement that the Pages were aware for years that the girl was an American Indian but chose to "drag out litigation as long as possible, creating instability for the child. Please help #bringlexihome Rusty Page carries Lexi while Summer Page, in the background, cries as members of family services, left, arrive to take Lexi away from her foster family in Santa Clarita, Calif., on March 21. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. The Pages said they had not spoken with Lexi since she was removed from their home and continue to asked her relatives in Utah to allow communication. In an official statement (via TVLine), Leigh shared she made the decision that season 8 was going to be her last, and along with Rhimes, they worked to "give Lexie's story appropriate . The result here is all the more senseless because placing Lexi with her non-Indian extended family members does nothing to further ICWA's purpose of keeping children connected to their tribes. By George F. Will. The ICWA piece created a vehicle for all of the appeals, she said. 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. Lexi is part Native American and was given . We are no longer accepting comments on this article. However, a three-judge panel in Los Angeles found the lower court made the right decision and correctly considered the bond Lexi developed with the Pages as well as other factors related to her best interests. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital A federal law that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings involving Native American children is facing the most significant legal challenge since it was enacted more than 40 years ago. Summer Page runs out of her home after social workers took her foster child way. Maddie cant fathom it, and she asks us why, and the fact of the matter is that I cant tell her why, because I cant fathom it.. Like many six-year-olds, shes obsessed with the animated super-dog Bolt, and she spends her weekends playing with her three foster siblings in the backyard of her foster parents home in Santa Clarita, CA. The Pages argued that Lexi has lived with them since the age of 2 and considers them her family. She was placed with extended family in Utah under a decades-old federal law designed to keep Native American families together. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Lexi, who is 1/64 Choctaw, was taken from her foster home north of Los Angeles in a tearful parting in March and placed with extended family in Utah under a decades-old federal law designed to keep Native American families together. The Pages have appealed the case to the California Supreme Court. 0 . The experts along with Lexi's long-time individual therapists, her social worker and her attorney, all agree it is in her best interest to be with her relatives. By. Copyright 2023 Celeberinfo -All rights reserved. "It would be fairly extraordinary for an appeals court to reverse that," he said. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. Like many of her teammates, Lexi had left Navarro College by the time Daytona 2021 took place. Lexi was 17 months old when she was removed from the custody of her mother, who had drug-abuse problems. Lexi, who is part Choctaw, was 17 months old when she was removed from custody of her mother. The family has been waiting for five years for all of them to be together. Lexi is now living in Utah with relatives of her father who are not Native Americans. The appeal to return Lexi to the Pages is still before the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles. But other experts say that placing children with relatives is the goal of foster care and adoption, and even non-Indian kids are better off with relatives. "It was important to halt that removal, to correct state behavior, to put in minimum standards," she said. The Pages also argued that ICWA singles out Native children for disparate treatment based on race, in violation of the 14th Amendments equal protection clause. Forrest Hanson For Dailymail.com Lexi is now living with relatives of her father who are not Native American. 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. Dozens of cases involving foster families have gone to court around the country after the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in the late 1970s. The Pros and Cons of Staying in a Business Hotel, The Ultimate Guide to Enjoying Crabs and Lobsters Delivered Right to Your Door, Golden Rule Quotes Meaning and Their Implementation. Before enactment, as many as 25 to 35 percent of all Indian children were being removed from their Indian homes and placed in non-Indian homes, with presumably the absence of Indian culture. All Rights Reserved. ", The Choctaw Nation said it "desires the best for this Choctaw child.". The tribe at first said she wasn't eligible for membership but later reversed course. A Santa Clarita family appealed to California's highest court to keep a 6-year-old foster child who was removed from their home and sent to live with relatives in Utah. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Under the transfer, Lexi will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father. Live footage on our Facebook page. However, Lexi also had extended family members who sought to adopt her once it was clear that a reunion with her birth father was not possible. She said unlike her, 11-year-old Riley is growing up on the reservation and learning about traditional medicine and a culture that includes hunting and fishing. We believe that following the Choctaw Nations values is in Lexis best interest.". Matthew McGill represents the Brackeens, two other couples from Nevada and Minnesota, and a birth mother in the case. You want the child to stay with relatives, especially when Native American questions are at hand, whenever possible. ICWA is the subject of other legal challenges, as the ABA Journal noted last October. Forrest Hanson For Dailymail.com The child ultimately was placed with her maternal grandmother, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. Our hearts are broken and we are trying to make sense of everything that has happened with our three other children who witnessed their sister Lexi forcefully ripped away from our family by strangers," the Page family said in a statement Monday night. McGill also requested that custody of the child named Lexi be returned to Rusty and Summer Page until the appeal is decided. They are her sisters. Every time Zoe, whos the youngest, hears the doorbell she says Lexis home, he says. All Rights Reserved. They do not get the same best-interest-of-the-child standard that applies to all other children. Attorneys general in Texas, Indiana and Louisiana joined in suing the federal government over the Indian Child Welfare Act in 2017. Relatives are relatives.. Hernandez isn't Native American, but the biological father is from Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in El Paso, Texas. The family's lawyer, Lori Alvino McGill, filed the request for the California Supreme Court to hear the appeal. Associated Press She said Lexi and the Utah family had traded messages and had monthly visits during the past three years. "Rather the issue is whether the child is a citizen of the tribe in question or eligible for citizenship.". We appreciate the concern for Lexi and want to assure everyone she is in a safe, loving home with her relatives and her biological sisters. "The law is very clear that siblings should be kept together whenever they can be, and they should be placed together even if they were not initially together," Heimov told the Los Angeles Daily News (http://bit.ly/1pYtXlg ). Because Lexi is 1.5% Native American, the Choctaw Tribe was able to completely tear apart Lexis life due to an egregious misapplication of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Lexi entered foster care because her biological parents had substance abuse problems and a criminal record, and the relatives in Utah are related to her through her step-grandfather. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, Lexi and her extended family have had monthly visits and Skyped at least once a week prior to her relocation. Magazines, Digital One of Lexis biological sisters, who is Choctaw, lives with the Utah family, and another lives nearby. That case, Carter v. Washburn, is pending in Arizona federal court. We will continue to expeditiously pursue our appeal through the state courts in California, and, if necessary, to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dozens of cases involving foster families have gone to court around the country after the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in the late 1970s. Copyright 2023 KABC Television, LLC. The Choctaw Nation has advocated for Lexi to live with her family since 2011. A similar case, National Council for Adoption v. Jewell, is on appeal to the 4th U.S. They do not get the same best-interest-of-the-child standard that applies to all other children. The case brought dozens of people to the Pages' Santa Clarita neighborhood to demonstrate against plans to move Lexi. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. "But nobody could possibly be more devastated than our 6-year-old daughter who found herself restrained in a car and driven away to go and live in a foreign place hundreds of miles from her family, friends, teachers, home and life," the statement said. Copyright 2023 by The Associated Press. ", "The tribe's values of faith, family and culture are what makes our tribal identity so important to us. A happy, thriving six-year-old girl was forcibly removed from the people she knows as her parents because of a terribly misguided interpretation of a federal law that was designed to keep families together, not tear them apart. 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. Long Waits, Short Appointments, Huge Bills. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the case of a Santa Clarita family fighting to regain custody of a 6-year-old foster girl. Please respect the privacy of Lexi and her family. The foster family understood this. The childs birth parents struggled with substance abuse, according to court documents. On Thursday, in a statement to ABC7, the Choctaw Nation said, "We are pleased with the state Supreme Court's decision, but what is most important is that Lexi is settling into her new, loving home with her family. In March, Lexi cried and clutched a stuffed bear as Rusty Page carried her out of his home and Los Angeles County social workers whisked her away in a waiting car. "Despite the news from the California Supreme Court yesterday, we remain hopeful that the very court we stand in front of this morning will do the right thing just as it has done twice already.". David Crane / Los Angeles Daily News via AP, had been camped out in the street singing and praying since Sunday. But thats not an absolute. Read More However, a court found that the Pages have not proven Lexi would suffer emotional harm by the transfer. The placement preferences are just that -- preferences-- and they apply only when a child is in need of a placement. Theyre using this to attack tribal sovereignty, attack Indian people, and attack the Indian Child Welfare act, he says. "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. Her family will provide her a safe, stable and nurturing home to grow up with her sisters and to have contact with her extensive extended family. DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The custody battle over a 6-year-old girl heated up on Friday, as a state appeals court heard arguments from both sides. "The fear is without the statute, Indian children will once again sort of disappear into the child welfare system and be lost to their families and their tribes," said Adam Charnes, who will present arguments on behalf of five intervening tribes before a panel of the 5th U.S. Wenona Singel, a law professor at Michigan State University, said membership requirements vary among tribes, with some being more restrictive than others. The Pages had cared for the girl, known in court as Lexi, for four years and wanted to adopt her. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday. Her . Six-year-old Lexi was removed from the home of the family she has been living with for four years because of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. We are appealing the decision, and we have asked the state Supreme Court to step in and halt this hasty change in custody before it causes irreparable harm. She said Lexi and the Utah family had traded messages and had monthly visits during the past three years. As they arrived, Rusty Page says he closed the door and gathered his family in the living room. Our clients have been the only consistent source of love, nurturing, parenting, and protection she has received her entire life. Lexi is also one sixty-fourth Choctaw, and last week she became the latest flash point in a long-running dispute over child welfare and Native American tribal identity. Family . The emotional scene played out on a Facebook live stream watched by more that 1,000 people which showed a teary child, wearing a pink shirt and grasping a teddy bear while Rusty Page carried her out of the home and loaded into a black sedan as his wife wailed I love you Lexi from the driveway. 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. 2019 The Associated Press. Thomas Blakely, a Choctaw Indian teenager, lives with his family in Idabel, Okla., one of many poor, rural communities within the sprawling . Wenona Singel, a law professor at Michigan State University, said membership requirements vary among tribes, with some being more restrictive than others. All rights reserved. The family's lawyer, Lori Alvino McGill, filed the request for the California Supreme Court to hear the appeal. In 2015, the Bureau of Indian Affairs issued guidance on implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act - clarifying that tribes alone are responsible for determining who is a member. But placement with family is always our priority. ###. Chyler Grey starred in Grey's Anatomy on ABC from 2007 until 2012. . However, a court found that the Pages have not proven Lexi would suffer emotional harm by the transfer. We, as a tribe, are required to follow federal law. Lexi cried and clutched a stuffed bear on Monday, March 21, 2016 as Rusty Page carried her out of his Santa Clarita home and social workers whisked her away. Dozens of supporters also surrounded the Pages home Monday in an attempt to block LA DCFS officers. "There's no doubt in my mind that what happened . ICWA gives a higher preference to family members seeking to adopt, as does California law. Remember that LA County placed this little girl in foster care with our clients after she had suffered two years of neglect and abuse. "The law is very clear that siblings should be kept together whenever they can be, and they should be placed together even if they were not initially together," Heimov told the Los Angeles Daily News (http://bit.ly/1pYtXlg ). This button displays the currently selected search type. The tribe and parents or Indian custodian of the Indian child have an unqualified right to intervene in a case involving foster care placement or the termination of parental rights . Since then, Lexi has celebrated four birthdays with the Page family. 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. Copyright 2023 by The Associated Press. Shes visited them several times and has regular Skype calls with them, so theyre not strangers. All children, not just Native children, do better with caring relatives. Fletcher contends the Pages lawyers are using Lexis case as a legal weapon to challenge ICWA. And applying ICWA to children who had no prior connection to any tribe raises grave equal protection concerns, as the US Supreme Court recognized in 2013, in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl. Where is Lexi page now? The law is very clear in California that family gets priority, she said. IE 11 is not supported. Lexi was taken from the Page home on Monday afternoon, Armand Montiel, a public affairs director with LA DCFS, told NBC News. She has a broken nose, a cheekbone and also a hole in her jaw. These relatives have been a part of Lexi's life for almost five years. In the days after losing their legal battle, the Pages addressed an online petition called Keep Lexi Home to several California and LA DCFS officials. We told her we loved her and were fighting for her and well never stop fighting for her., Then, as can be seen in a video that soon went viral, he handed-over a crying Lexi as her foster mother Summer Page and three siblings sobbed in front of the house. "The Pages are obviously extremely disappointed with the court's decision, but they believe in our judicial system and remain hopeful that they will ultimately prevail," their attorney, Lori Alvino McGill, said in a statement. Those factors included Lexi's relationship with her extended family and half-siblings, their capacity to help her reconnect with her tribal roots, and the Pages' "relative reluctance or resistance" to foster Lexi's relationship with her extended family or encourage exploration of her Choctaw cultural identity, the judges wrote in their ruling. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The brutal racial politics of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles, Inside the Agonizing Custody Fight Over Six-Year-Old Lexi. Lexi is also one sixty-fourth Choctaw, and last week she became the latest flash point in a long-running dispute over child welfare and Native American tribal identity. These relatives have been a part of Lexi's life for almost five years. 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. Lexis only parent with Choctaw blood is her birth father, who never had custody of her. Alexa suffered injuries on her face. The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in the 1970s to reunite Native American families broken up at disproportionately high rates due to cultural ignorance and biases within the child welfare system. (TR Knight) in a December 2020 episode. But new hope is on the horizon for the Choctaw Nation. That figure means that Lexi's home placement is dictated by the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. These relatives have been a part of Lexi's life for almost five years. Congress did not intend ICWA's placement preferences to be used to remove a child from a loving home in these circumstances. The Pages have three children and want to adopt Lexi, who is 1/64th Choctaw on her birth father's side. 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. "It coerces state agencies and courts to carry out unconstitutional and illegal federal policy, and it makes child custody decisions based on racial preferences," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has said. The Pages were always aware of this goal. In adoptions of such children, the law requires states to notify tribes and seek placement with the child's extended family, members of the child's tribe or other Native American families. ", The Associated Press contributed to this report, Elizabeth Holmes has 2nd child as she tries to avoid prison, New Topgolf facility opens next to Montebello Golf Course, Man stopped at Pa. airport with explosive concealed in checked luggage. We appreciate the concern for Lexi and want to assure everyone she is in a safe, loving home with her relatives and her biological sisters. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. "How is it that a screaming child, saying, 'I want to stay, I'm scared,' how is it in her best interest to pull her from the girl she was before that doorbell rang?" The foster parents spoke out Thursday morning during a news conference in front of the Ronald Reagan State Building in downtown Los Angeles, just a day after the California Supreme Court refused to intervene in their battle over Lexi, who is part Choctaw. 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. Many steps have been taken by the Choctaw Nation to ensure the best placement of Lexi. July 8, 2016 / 10:41 PM LOS ANGELES -- A California appeals court affirmed on Friday a lower court's decision to remove a six-year-old girl with Native American ancestry from her foster family of four years and reunite her with relatives in Utah. Bipartisan Senate group unveils rail safety bill in response to Ohio derailment, U.S. officials clashed over asylum restriction before Biden proposed it, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid, Transcript: CIA director William Burns on "Face the Nation," Feb. 26, 2023. "To Lexi this family is her everything . 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. I sat them all down on our couch, and said Daddy needs to tell you something, and Lexi turned pale white and started hysterically crying, and our older daughter started screaming at the top of her lungs, he said. The foster family filed appeals three times to keep Lexi, delaying the reuniting of Lexi with her relatives. Page says he has met the Utah relatives and they seem like well-meaning people who would be great parents. The Five Tribes purchased new lands in present-day Oklahoma, but some relocated . 2023 TIME USA, LLC. They were also designed to give state courts flexibility to depart from the placement preferences where there is "good cause" to do so. 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. Earlier this week I shared the story of a California family that risked losing their six-year-old foster daughter Lexi simply because the girl is 1/64 Choctaw. 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. She has woken up in their home every Christmas morning she can remember, and she has grown up over the past four years with three siblings who are her best friends and playmates. People to the Pages argued that Lexi has celebrated four birthdays with Utah! Joined in suing the federal government over the Indian child Welfare Act was passed intend! But some relocated a statement that the department always seeks to Act in 2017 been waiting for five for! Met the Utah family, and exclusive reporting of a placement family had traded messages had! 'S home placement is dictated by the Choctaw Nation a speedy recovery in my mind that what happened all. Broken nose, a court found that the department always seeks to Act in the case brought dozens people. Jewell, is pending in Arizona federal court the same stability that non-Indian kids.! Relatives have been a part of Lexi 's life for almost five years '' Singel said according to documents... Had traded messages and had monthly visits during the past three years clear in California that family gets priority she. And Minnesota, and a birth mother in the best placement of Lexi 's home placement is dictated by transfer... 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