'Hits close to home': Coachella Valley area tribes applaud Indian Child Welfare Act ruling

Isaiah Vivanco, Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians tribal vice chairman (Photo: Courtesy of Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians)

Soboba Tribal Council Vice Chairman Isaiah Vivanco said the tribe got what it wanted after signing onto an amicus brief along with hundreds of other tribes supporting the Indian Child Welfare Act last year. 

“The decision is a huge one for Indian Country as a whole,” Vivanco said in a written statement. 

Morongo Band of Mission Indians Tribal Chairman Robert Martin called the ruling a "strong statement" of tribes' sovereign rights and their relationship with the federal government. Martin said the tribe joined the Cherokee, Navajo, Oneida and the Quinault Indian nations to intervene in the case. 

Robert Martin, chairman of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians (Photo: Courtesy of Morongo Band of Mission Indians)

"We were overwhelmed by the massive outpouring of bipartisan support for ICWA, from federal lawmakers to the attorneys general of 21 states to dozens of the most well-respected child welfare organizations in the nation," he said in a written statement. 

Martin described the Indian Child Welfare Act as the "gold standard" for child welfare policy and said the tribal council will remain committed to defending its

Coachella Valley area Native Amercian tribes are applauding a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the Indian Child Welfare Act is constitutional.

LISTEN: Coachella Valley Native American tribes applaud Indian Child Welfare Act ruling