US Supreme Court upholds Native American adoptions law

The US Supreme Court has ruled that Native American families should continue to have priority in adoption or foster care of Native American children.

The 7-2 decision preserves the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).

It rejects a challenge by a white Texas couple who argued the law was a form of racial discrimination.

Native American leaders argued the law helps protect their traditions and cultures.

Thursday's ruling was a victory for those tribal leaders and US Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the majority opinion. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

The lead plaintiffs in the case were Chad and Jennifer Brackeen, a white couple of Fort Worth, Texas.

They argued that the ICWA was racially discriminatory, breaching the US Constitution's guarantee of equal protection.

The Navajo Nation had objected to the Brackeens' attempt to foster a five-year-old girl after earlier adopting her older half-brother.

In supporting briefs to the Supreme Court, hundreds of tribes argued that the ICWA was in the best interests of the child.

They said the law treats Native Americans as a political class, rather than a racial group.

In a statement to the BBC, the plaintiffs' lawyer Matthew McGill said his clients are concerned about what the decision means for the child whom the Brackeen couple tried to adopt.

Mr McGill said the little girl "has been part of the Brackeen family for nearly her whole life".

He added that the top court did not address his client's core claim that the ICWA is discriminatory, and that the couple plans to ask the state court to address the issue in an upcoming adoption trial for the child.

The Native American Rights Fund said it was "overcome with joy" at the decision, adding that the ICWA is "widely regarded as the gold standard of child welfare".

"The positive impact of today's decision will be felt across generations," they said in a statement on Twitter.

The ICWA was put in place 45 years ago to address a widely spread practice in the 19th Century by the US government and states of taking children from their Native American families in order to assimilate them into white America.