Girl 6, taken from her family because she is Native American
Social workers SEIZE sobbing girl, 6, from her home of five years in adoption race row: Devastated white foster family forced to give up their daughter by court because she is 1.5% Native American
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 her foster parents by spending the night outside the home
Summer and Rusty Page, Lexi's foster parents, are not Native American
Due to the 'Indian Child Welfare Act', Lexi is supposed to only live with other Native American families
Summer and Rusty, from Santa Claritra, California, have been fighting for two years to adopt the child
The Choctaw Tribe has decided to place Lexi with a person in Utah who is not Native American and does not live on a reservation
Quote:
Social workers seized a hysterical six-year-old girl from the home of her white foster family on Monday because she is part Native American.
The child, Lexi, sobbed, clinging to her foster father Rusty Page as he reluctantly fought through a crowd to hand the child over to the Department of Children and Families in Santa Clarita.
In a disturbing video from KTLA, Lexi screamed, begging Rusty, 'don't let them take me away', as she was removed from her family.
As Lexi was placed in the back of a black car with government workers, her foster mother Summer Page burst from the home screaming 'I love you, Lexi'.
Six-year-old Lexi (in pink) was removed from her foster parents, Summer and Rusty (pictured) because she is Native American and they are not
Summer (center) screamed 'I love you, Lexi' as the girl was taken away. Her siblings also sobbed and screamed as their sister was taken from them
Quote:
Lexi's foster siblings screamed 'no' over and over, crying hysterically as their sister was taken.
Droves of protesters and reporters stood by helplessly as the family's screams continued to echo out into the street.
The horrifying scene came days after Rusty and his wife Summer were denied an emergency stay to keep the part-Native American child.
Summer and Rusty raised Lexi for the last five years and spent the last two-and-a-half trying to adopt her with no success.
Graham (center) and Lena Kelly (rear) Lexi's foster aunt and uncle, break down on the street after family services came to take Lexi away
Lexi was 17 months old when she became a part of the family. Her removal devastated extended members of her foster family, like her foster uncle Graham Kelly (pictured)
Quote:
Lexi, who has only ever know the Pages as her parents, is one-and-a-half per cent Choctaw Native American.
Because of the 'Indian Child Welfare Act' - a federal law passed in the 1970's aimed to protect the best interests of Native American children - she must live with Native American parents and will be placed with her father's relatives.
She was 17 months old when she was removed from the custody of her biological mother, who had a substance abuse problem.
Her biological father, who is Native American, had an extensive criminal history, according to court records cited by the Los Angeles Daily News.
She will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father.
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.
In a statement, the National Indian Child Welfare Association said 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'.
'Quite frankly, when Lexi is old enough to understand what happened to her, I think that would lead to resentment of her heritage, not embracing of the culture,' Rusty told ABC 7.
Rusty Page (left) sobbed as he pleaded with the county not to take Lexi away from the family. Rusty and Summer have tried to adopt the girl for two years with no success
Quote:
INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT - POLICIES AND REGULATIONS
ICWA gives tribal governments a strong voice concerning child custody proceedings that involve Indian children, by allocating tribes exclusive jurisdiction over the case when a child is a ward of the tribe.
The tribe also has jurisdiction over non-reservation Native Americans’ foster care placement proceedings
It was enacted in 1978 because of the high removal rate of Indian children from their traditional homes and essentially from Indian culture as a whole.
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.
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 .
Source: Cornell University Law School
Rusty and Summer have tried to adopt Lexi for more than two years but have been unsuccessful in their attempts and have lost her to the Department of Children and Family Services
They should have placed her with another Native American family as soon as she was put into the foster care system. Poor girl.
I still support the ICWA. 25% of Native American children are in foster care. They should be placed with Native families to avoid white-washing and preserve their cultural identity.
1.5 percent? That must be a typo. How does that even count? I'm all for preserving heritage, but if it's already been diluted that much, it obviously wasn't a concern for her family. There has to be more to the story. Are there even enough Native American families who adopt to meet the demand?
1.5 percent? That must be a typo. How does that even count? I'm all for preserving heritage, but if it's already been diluted that much, it obviously wasn't a concern for her family. There has to be more to the story. Are there even enough Native American families who adopt to meet the demand?
It shouldn't matter if she was 100% Native American. I'd be damned if they tried to take my daughter!
I still support the ICWA. 25% of Native American children are in foster care. They should be placed with Native families to avoid white-washing and preserve their cultural identity.
The welfare of the child is far more important than "preserving cultural identity". If a white/black/whatever family can provide that welfare best, then the child should be placed in their care. Have some sense.
That is ****ed up, that poor kid being ripped out of her family because of some ******** like this, i could understand if it were a new placement but she's been there for years.
The welfare of the child is far more important than "preserving cultural identity". If a white/black/whatever family can provide that welfare best, then the child should be placed in their care. Have some sense.
Lol @ you completely ignoring the other half my post that condemns the government's actions. Maybe you should have some sense.
If she were placed in a Native foster household from the very start, this wouldn't be an issue. You're obviously not from the US since you seem pretty ignorant of the fact that the government waged genocide on Native Americans, and as a result, they are dying out. Keep quiet.
Poor girl 
