In what is being called a surprise ruling, by a 7-2 vote the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act. The ruling upheld the law's preferences for Native tribes when American Indian children are adopted. The 1978 law was enacted when Congress, after extensive hearings, found that "public and private agencies had taken hundreds of thousands of American Indian children from their homes, sometimes by force. These agencies then placed the children in institutions or with families that had no tribal connections."

The tribes saw these actions as a threat to their very existence, and Congress agreed. In response, Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, known by the acronym "ICWA." Precedents cited date back to the early days of the republic.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the majority, said Congress did not exceed its authority in passing the law.

'In a long line of cases we have characterized Congress' power to legislate with respect to the Indian tribes as plenary and exclusive,' she wrote.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented.

npr.org - Indian child welfare act supreme court decision