Police Seize Six Children Simply Because Family Was Camping

A Michigan family had made plans to spend the summer camping in the great outdoors was horrified when state officials seized their six children simply because they were temporarily living in tents.

The agonizing experience for Christopher and Antonia Hernandez began May 19 when Otsego County sheriff deputies and a CPS official took their children, and ended June 10 when their children were returned after the parents won a court ruling based on the fact the mother and children are eligible for enrollment in the Tlingit Native American tribe.

The federal Indian Child Welfare Act makes it more difficult for state officials to separate Native American families. Michigan has a similar state law.

If the family had not had the Tlingit link, the case still would be ongoing, with the children still in foster care.’

Read more: Police Seize Six Children Simply Because Family Was Camping