The Eastern Band of the Cherokee was not comprised of people who returned illegally. They refused to leave in the first place, retreating into the wilderness of the Smokies.
Some went to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears but returned. When I said that they returned “illegally” it was because according to U.S. Federal Law, they should have remained in Oklahoma, and it was illegal for them to return to North Carolina. The white people of North Carolina objected to their removal, and insisted that they be allowed to remain in North Carolina.