Get ready for round two. Oral arguments in a closely-watched Indian Child Welfare Act case will take place on January 22, 2020.

After offering a tentative date last month, 5th Circuit Court of Appeals made it official on Wednesday. The case known as Brackeen v. Bernhardt will go before an en banc panel of judges in New Orleans, Louisiana, where the first round of arguments took place earlier this year.

The initial hearing resulted in a major victory for the #DefendICWA campaign. A panel of three judges largely upheld the law, which was enacted in 1978 to address the high rates of Indian children being taken from their families without consideration of the impact on their tribal nations.

The John Minor Wisdom U.S. Court of Appeals Building in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Over the last 40 years, ICWA has been held up as the "gold standard" in child welfare policy. But state governments run by conservative politicians, along with non-Indians who are trying to adopt, or have already adopted, Indian children claim the law violates the U.S. Constitution because it takes race into account.

A federal judge who was nominated by a Republican president and who lacks experience in Indian law and policy stunned tribes and their advocates by agreeing with the race-based premise. Indian Country quickly came together and appealed the disastrous decision to the 5th Circuit.

"This is what we need to do when sovereignty is threatened: to come together," Gil Vigil, a citizen of the Pueblo of Tesuque who serves as president of the National Indian Child Welfare Association , said at the National Congress of American Indians 75th annual convention, where the case was a major topic of discussion. The two organizations are among those leading the ICWA defense.

“This is what we need to do—Come together”: At National Congress of American Indians 76th annual convention, Gil Vigil (Tesuque Pueblo) of National Indian Child Welfare Association credits tribal unity with victory in Indian Child Welfare Act case. #NCAIAnnual19 @NativeChildren pic.twitter.com/uvB7HDdnuV — indianz.com (@indianz) October 24, 2019

The stakes are higher now that ICWA is being presented to a larger group of judges, increasing the chances of a negative ruling for Indian Country. Regardless of the way the