Hello, Reader..
Sometimes history has a way of repeating itself.
A constitutional clash is making headlines as the second Trump administration defied a court order to stop the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants from the United States.[1]
This current event echoes a moment from nearly two centuries ago when President Andrew Jackson defied a Supreme Court ruling and set a dangerous precedent.
What are the consequences when a president refuses to comply with a court ruling?
Let's dive into the past and explore.
Historical Perspective: Unfolding Constitutional Clash
🖼️ The Big Picture: The second Trump administration's refusal to comply with a court order to stop the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants echoes a similar defiance of the courts nearly two centuries ago, when Andrew Jackson defied the Supreme Court's ruling in Worcester v. Georgia in 1832. History tells us that when presidents defy the courts, the consequences are profound.
⚖️ Why It Mattered: The power of U.S. courts relies on the executive branch to enforce its decisions. In 1832, Andrew Jackson set a precedent that demonstrated the limits of judicial authority when the executive branch chooses not to enforce its rulings. Jackson refused to abide by the Supreme Court's decision in Worcester v. Georgia, which affirmed Cherokee sovereignty. Jackson's administration continued to support Georgia's efforts to assert control over Cherokee territory. This contributed to the eventual forced removal of the Cherokee and other tribes under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which was carried out by President Martin Van Buren in 1838.[2]
📖 Go Deeper: Judicial Branch vs. Executive Branch
Checks and Balances
The Framers of the United States Constitution wrote in a system of checks and balances to prevent any one of the three branches of government--executive, legislative, judicial--from becoming too powerful.
The judicial branch checks the power of the executive branch through judicial review (the power to ensure laws conform with the Constitution), the power to review executive actions, and by using Habeas Corpus to review the legality of executive branch arrests and detentions.
The executive branch checks the power of the judicial branch by appointing the judges that serve in the judicial branch, granting pardons, and enforcing court rulings.
📜 1832: Worcester v. Georgia
At issue in Worcester v. Georgia was the question of whether the State of Georgia had the authority to regulate the intercourse between citizens of its state and citizens of the Cherokee Nation.
In a 5-1 decision, Chief Justice John Marshall delivered the majority opinion, which stated "no," the Georgia law used to prosecute missionary Samuel Worcester for residing within the limits of the Cherokee Nation without a license from Georgia was unconstitutional as Indigenous nations held sovereign authority to apply their own laws within their territory.[3]
The Supreme Court's decision to affirm the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation and its laws and render null and void Georgia laws that attempted to regulate Cherokee territory prompted a response from Wilson Lumpkin, the Governor of Georgia. Lumpkin refused to release Samuel Worcester from jail.
President Andrew Jackson did not believe in Native sovereignty. He believed Georgia had the right to enforce its laws on any person, so Jackson refused to intervene and compel Lumpkin to release Worcester from jail.
A myth arose about Jackson's inaction in this case. In 1864, newspaper publisher Horace Greeley wrote that when asked about Worcester v. Georgia, Jackson supposedly remarked "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." It is highly unlikely that Jackson said those words.
Instead, Jackson argued that the executive and legislative branches held co-equal power with the Supreme Court to interpret the laws of the Constitution. In 1838, President Martin Van Buren--Jackson's second Vice President and political ally-- enforced the Indian Removal Act of 1830 by deploying federal soldiers to remove the Cherokee and other tribes from their lands, despite the Supreme Court's 1832-ruling affirming Indigenous sovereignty.[4]
🇺🇸 2025: Trump and the Alien Enemies Act
On March 15, 2025, the second Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, arguing that certain Venezuelan migrants posed a threat to national security.
A federal judge ordered the deportations to stop, but the administration continued, claiming that the court order came too late and did not apply to their executive authority.[5]
🚨 The Aftermath of Defying the Courts
For Indigenous Peoples: Jackson’s defiance led to the forced removal of approximately 100,000 Native Americans from their homelands east of the Mississippi River between 1830-1850. The United States Government forcibly removed about 46,000 people westward to places like Oklahoma and Kansas. This forced migration killed thousands, including approximately 8,000 Cherokee who died along the Trail of Tears. Indian Removal remains one of the darkest episodes in U.S. history.[6]
✈️ For Today’s Immigrants: Deportations continue despite legal challenges, prompting debates about executive authority and the role of the courts. As history has shown, defiance of court orders has sometimes led to severe humanitarian consequences. What impact will this modern case have? Only time will tell.
🎧 Tune In For More
To dive even deeper into the issues of judicial power, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, and the Indian Removal Act of 1830, check out these episodes of Ben Franklin’s World:
📌 Episode 297: Learn how the Indian Removal Act set the stage for the Trail of Tears and the devastating consequences for Native American nations.
📌 Episode 286: Discover how Native American sovereignty intersected with early American elections and voting rights.
📌 Episode 034: Explore the life and times of Andrew Jackson and what motivated him to push for and sign the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
📌 Episode 188: Uncover the history behind the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and its controversial use in the past.
📌 Episode 367: Investigate one of colonial British America's first educational institutions for Native Americans and its lasting legacy on Indigenous education and assimilation policies.
🧠 Share Your Thoughts!
What do you think?
There are many laws on the books that date back to the early days of the Early American Republic. Do you think we should still use laws like the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 in our own present time?
📩 Hit Reply to share your thoughts or post a question.
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Have a good weekend,
Liz Covart
Host, Ben Franklin’s World
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📝 End Notes
[1] Ted Hesson, "Judge questions Trump's deportation of Venezuelans as White House defends move," Reuters, March 17, 2025, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/group-seeks-answers-deportation-venezuelans-despite-court-order-2025-03-17/, accessed March 17, 2025; Marc Caputo, "Exclusive: How the White House ignored a judge's order to turn back deportation flights," Axios, March 16, 2025, https://www.axios.com/2025/03/16/trump-white-house-defy-judge-deport-venezuelans, accessed March 17, 2025.
[2] Claudio Saunt, Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory, (New York: W.W. Norton, 2020); Gregory D. Smithers, The Cherokee Diaspora: An Indigenous History of Migration, Resettlement, and Identity, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015).
[3] Worcester v. Georgia, Oyez, https://www.oyez.org/cases/1789-1850/31us515, accessed March 17, 2025.
[4] "Executive Enforcement of Judicial Orders," Federal Judicial Center, https://www.fjc.gov/history/administration/executive-enforcement-judicial-orders, accessed March 17, 2025; W. Todd Grace, "Wilson Lumpkin, 1783-1870," New Georgia Encyclopedia, https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/wilson-lumpkin-1783-1870/, accessed March 18, 2025; "Andrew Jackson to the Cherokee Tribe, 1835," The Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History, https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/andrew-jackson-cherokee-tribe-1835, accessed March 18, 2025.
[5] White House, "Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua," March 15, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/invocation-of-the-alien-enemies-act-regarding-the-invasion-of-the-united-states-by-tren-de-aragua/, accessed March 18, 2025; The Associated Press, "The Alien Enemies Act: What to know about a 1798 law that Trump has invoked for deportations," NBC News, March 17, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/alien-enemies-act-know-1798-law-trump-invoked-deportations-rcna196688, accessed March 18, 2025.
[6] Cherokee Nation, "Remember the Removal," https://www.cherokee.org/about-the-nation/remember-the-removal/our-journey/#:~:text=Of%20the%20estimated%2016%2C000%20Cherokees,exposure%2C%20starvation%2C%20and%20disease., accessed March 18, 2025; Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, "American Indian Removal: What Does it Mean to Remove a People," https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/removal/pdf/related-facts.pdf, accessed March 18, 2025.
📖 Further Reading
Daniel Walker Howe, The Transformation of America, 1815-1848, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).
Claudio Saunt, Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory, (New York: W.W. Norton, 2020).
Gregory D. Smithers, The Cherokee Diaspora: An Indigenous History of Migration, Resettlement, and Identity.
