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. "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. 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 Choctaw Nation has advocated for Lexi to live with her family since 2011. "It would be fairly extraordinary for an appeals court to reverse that," he said. At issue is the Indian . "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?" 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. Although foster care is supposed to be temporary, the Pages want to adopt Lexi and for years have fought efforts under the federal act to place the girl with relatives of her father, who is part Choctaw. The law is very clear in California that family gets priority, she said. Oak Lawn police officer charged after teen's violent arrest, ABC7 Chicago says farewell to Meteorologist Phil Schwarz, Kitchen Possible empowers kids in Chicago. 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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. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Once a child is placed with a Native American family, it is highly unlikely that the decision would be reversed, he added. Lexi can remain where she belongs, with extended family that will raise her and a sister in the Choctaw tradition. One of her biological sisters lives with the family in Utah, and another lives down the street. The law was designed to help Native American families remain intact. The case was one of 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 relatives are not Native American but Lexi was reunited with biological sister. She says she's an apple, red on the outside, white on the inside.". "The issue is not what degree of Choctaw ancestry a child has," Singel said. Her father has a criminal history, according to court records. The Utah family had never met Lexi at that time; and the tribe agreed there was good cause to depart from ICWA's placement preferences. What happened yesterday should never happen . Bipartisan Senate group unveils rail safety bill in response to Ohio derailment, 6-year-old caught in tribal custody battle. One of Lexis biological sisters, who is Choctaw, lives with the Utah family, and another lives nearby. But this case shines a bright light on the ways in which the law in its current form is routinely being misinterpreted, with devastating consequences for families and children. Distraught and weeping, Page shared his foster daughter's parting words with CBS Los Angeles: "Don't let them take me. 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. Lexi, a six-year-old with one-and-a-half per cent Choctaw blood has been removed from her foster parents of five years Protesters tried to stop government officials from taking the child from. After several trials and appeals, a judge ruled that Lexi should leave her foster family and be placed with distant relatives in Utah. Placement with family is the gold-standard of any child-custody case, not just a case involving tribal children. Where is Lexi page now? Therefore we will continue to work to maintain these values and work toward the long-term best interest of this child.". Her father, who had a criminal history, never lived on a Choctaw reservation and didnt have any social, political, or cultural ties to the tribe, according to the court documents. 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. 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. 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. 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. Associated Press, Parents whose foster daughter, six, was ripped from them because she is part Native American and they are white, appeal case to Californias Supreme Court as they hit out at 'an outrageous abuse of power', EXCLUSIVE: Biological father of six-year-old girl torn from foster parents because she is part Native American is a violent drug criminal who bragged of 'white supremacist friends', EXCLUSIVE - 'Please do the right thing and send our daughter home': Heartbroken white foster parents of girl, six, seized for being 1/64th Native American plead with new 'family' to return her to the only home she's ever known, 'Food isn't worth eating. In 2011, extended family in Utah became aware that Lexi was with a foster family and expressed interest in adopting her, according to the documents. If the good-cause exception isn't satisfied in this case, it is difficult to imagine when it ever would be. Regardless of tribal membership, Lexi should be allowed to live with her family, just as all children in any deprived case should.. Previously, Leslie Heimov of the Children's Law Center of California said: '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. 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. She said Lexi and the Utah family had traded messages and had monthly visits during the past three years. "The Choctaw Nation has advocated for Lexi to live with her family since 2011," the tribe said in a statement. Please respect the privacy of Lexi and her family. All children, not just Native children, do better with caring relatives. Reading ICWA to demand this tragic result is inconsistent with Lexi's constitutional right to stability and permanence-- a right recognized by the California Supreme Court more than twenty years ago. A crowd of friends and neighbors wept, prayed or sang hymns. 2019 The Associated Press. Our family is so incredibly devastated, Rusty Page said in a video statement. 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. Rusty Page told CBS News Radio station KNX-AM. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles, Inside the Agonizing Custody Fight Over Six-Year-Old Lexi. 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. Attorneys general in Texas, Indiana and Louisiana joined in suing the federal government over the Indian Child Welfare Act in 2017. "The foster family was well aware years ago this girl is an Indian child, whose case is subject to the requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act," the National Indian Child Welfare Association said in a statement. The National Indian Child Welfare Association argues that the decision to re-place Lexi was the right one because "the purpose of foster care is to provide temporary care for children not to fast-track the creation of new families when there is extended family available who want to care for the child.". 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. 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. The problem that is that there are so many variables, says Adam Pertman, president of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency, a nonprofit devoted to issues of adoption and child welfare that has not taken a public position on Lexis case. There is a 6-year-old little girl who is going to be ripped away from the only family that she has ever known. A crowd of friends and neighbors wept, prayed or sang hymns. Lexi can remain where she. In a statement, they said this case is not about politics. 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. "It was important to halt that removal, to correct state behavior, to put in minimum standards," she said. 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, 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. Please respect the privacy of Lexi and her family. "Rather the issue is whether the child is a citizen of the tribe in question or eligible for citizenship.". We, as a tribe, are required to follow federal law. The Choctaw Nation has advocated for Lexi to live with her family since 2011. Foster care is a much-needed temporary service provided for children until the child can be returned to the care of his or her family. What happened yesterday should never happen, to any child. Rusty Page told KNX-AM radio. Our clients have been the only consistent source of love, nurturing, parenting, and protection she has received her entire life. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Forrest Hanson For Dailymail.com These relatives have been a part of Lexi's life for almost five years. Lexi, who is part Choctaw, was 17 months old when she was removed from custody of her mother. 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. "There is a 6-year-old little girl who is going to be ripped away from the only family that she has ever known. Many steps have been taken by the Choctaw Nation to ensure the best placement of Lexi. When the federal law was enacted, studies showed up to one-third of Native American children were being taken from their homes by private and state agencies, including church-run programs, and placed with mostly white families or in boarding schools. 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. We believe that following the Choctaw Nations values is in Lexis best interest.". Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Leslie Starr Heimov, executive director of the Center, told the ABA Journal last year that the Pages would have been unlikely to get custody even if ICWA had not applied to the case. Don't let me go. The Pages have fought efforts under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act to place Lexi with relatives of her father, who is part Choctaw. 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