The ten internment camps and further institutions of the "War relocation authority" in the western United States.

Japanese American internment refers to the forcible relocation and internment of approximately 110,000 Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans to housing facilities called "War Relocation Camps", in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.^[1][2] The internment of Japanese Americans was effected unequally throughout the United States. Japanese Americans residing on the West Coast of the United States were all interned, whereas in Hawaii, where over 150,000 Japanese Americans comprised nearly a third of that territory's population, an additional 1,200^[3] to 1,800 Japanese Americans were interned.^[4] Of those interned, 62 percent were United States citizens.^[5][6] Download high resolution version (1000x795, 73 KB)Map of Japanese internment in the US during World War II. Large size; see also smaller version. ... Download high resolution version (1000x795, 73 KB)Map of Japanese internment in the US during World War II. Large size; see also smaller version. ... This article is about the usage and history of the terms concentration camp, internment camp and internment. ... Languages Japanese Religions Shinto, Buddhism, large secular groups      The Japanese people ) is the ethnic group that identifies as Japanese by culture or ancestry, or both. ... Serving from 1999 to 2003, Army General Eric Shinseki of Hawaii became the first Asian American military chief of staff. ... The ensign of Imperial Japanese Navy was a prominent symbol of Imperial Japan. ... This article is about the harbor in Hawaii. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ...

President Franklin Roosevelt authorized the internment with Executive Order 9066, which allowed local military commanders to designate "military areas" as "exclusion zones", from which "any or all persons may be excluded." This power was used to declare that all people of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the entire Pacific coast, including all of California and most of Oregon and Washington, except for those in internment camps. ^[7] In 1944, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the exclusion orders,^[8] while noting that the provisions that singled out people of Japanese ancestry were a separate issue outside the scope of the proceedings.^[9] Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), often referred to as FDR, was the 32nd (1933–1945) President of the United States. ... Sign posted notifying people of Japanese descent to report to for relocation. ... The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the acronym SCOTUS[1]) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. ...

In 1988, Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan signed legislation which apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government. The legislation stated that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership".^[10] $1.6 billion in reparations were later disbursed by the U.S. government to surviving internees and their heirs.^[11] Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives President of the Senate President pro tempore Dick Cheney, (R) since January 20, 2001 Robert C. Byrd, (D) since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ... Reagan redirects here. ... ... In the philosophy of justice, reparation is the idea that a just sentence ought to compensate the victim of a crime appropriately. ...

Historical context

See also: Anti-Japanese sentiment

In the first half of the 20th century, California experienced a wave of anti-Japanese prejudice distinct from the Japanese American experience in the broader United States. Over 90% of Japanese immigrants to the USA settled in California, where labor and farm competition fed into general anti-Japanese sentiment.^[12] In 1905, California's anti-miscegenation law was amended to prohibit marriages between Caucasians and "Mongolians" (an umbrella term which, at the time, was used in reference to the Japanese, among other ethnicities of East Asian ancestry).^[12] That anti-Japanese sentiment was maintained beyond this period is evidenced by the 1924 "Oriental Exclusion Law", which blocked Japanese immigrants from attaining citizenship.^[12] Anti-Japanese sentiment refers to the view of the Japanese people or of the Japanese nation with suspicion or hostility. ... Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Ethnocracy Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial quota... For the peoples actually from the Caucasus, see Peoples of the Caucasus. ... The United States Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson-Reed Act) limited the number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of person from that country who were already living in the United States in 1890. ...

In the years 1939–1941, the FBI compiled the Custodial Detention index ("CDI") on citizens, "enemy" aliens and foreign nationals, based principally on census records, in the interest of national security. On June 28, 1940, the Alien Registration Act was passed. Among many other "loyalty" regulations, Section 31 required the registration and fingerprinting of all aliens above the age of 14, and Section 35 required aliens to report any change of address within 5 days. Nearly five million foreign nationals registered at post offices around the country, in the subsequent months.^[13][14] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Custodial Detention Index (CDI) was based on massive list of US residents compiled by FBI during 1939-1941, in the frame of a program called variously Custodial Detention and/or Alien Enemy Control. The Custodial Detention Index was a list of suspects and potential subversives classified as A, B, and... is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act () of 1940 is a United States federal statute that made it a criminal offense for anyone to It also required all non-citizen adult residents to register with the government; within four months, 4,741,971 aliens had registered under the Acts...

After Pearl Harbor

A Japanese American unfurled this banner the day after the Pearl Harbor attack. This Dorothea Lange photograph was taken in March 1942, just prior to the man's internment.

The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 led some to suspect the Japanese were preparing a full-scale attack on the West Coast of the United States. Japan's rapid military conquest of a large portion of Asia and the Pacific between 1936 and 1942 made their military forces seem unstoppable to some Americans. Dorothea Lange (May 25, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). ... This article is about the actual attack. ... is the 341st day of the year (342nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Pacific War (disambiguation). ...

Civilian and military officials had concerns about the loyalty of the ethnic Japanese on the West Coast and considered them to be potential security risks, although these concerns often arose more from racial bias than actual risk. Major Karl Bendetsen and Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt each questioned Japanese American loyalty. DeWitt, who administered the internment program, repeatedly told newspapers that "A Jap's a Jap" and testified to Congress, John Lesesne DeWitt was an American Army general, best known for his role in the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. In the course of carrying out policy, he issued military proclamations that applied to American men, women and children who happened to have Japanese ancestry, restricting their...

I don't want any of them [persons of Japanese ancestry] here. They are a dangerous element. There is no way to determine their loyalty... It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen, he is still a Japanese. American citizenship does not necessarily determine loyalty... But we must worry about the Japanese all the time until he is wiped off the map.^[15][16]

Those that were up to 1/16th Japanese could be placed in internment camps^[17]. The inclusion of orphaned infants with "one drop of Japanese blood" (as explained in a letter by one official) or the order stated anyone who was at least 1/8th Japanese or descended from any intermarriage (if there was any, since most American-born Japanese had two parents from Japan) lends credence to the argument that the measures were racially motivated, rather than a military necessity.

San Francisco Examiner, February 1942, newspaper headlines.

Some administration and military leaders doubted the loyalty of ethnic Japanese because many of them (including some born in America) had been educated in Japan, where school curricula emphasized reverence for the Emperor. It was feared that this population might commit acts of espionage or sabotage for the Japanese military.^{[citation needed]} Internment, however, was never limited to those who had been to Japan. Newspaper headlines of Japanese Relocation. ... Newspaper headlines of Japanese Relocation. ... An emperorrefers to Nick Herringshaw, a title, empress may only indicate the wife of an emperor (empress consort. ...

Upon the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Presidential Proclamations 2525 (Japanese), 2526 (German) and 2527 (Italian) were signed.^{[citation needed]} Information from the CDI was used to locate and incarcerate foreign nationals from Japan, Germany and Italy (although Germany or Italy didn't declare war on the U.S. until December 11).

Presidential Proclamation 2537 was issued on January 14, 1942, requiring aliens to report any change of address, employment or name to the FBI. Enemy aliens were not allowed to enter restricted areas. Violators of these regulations were subject to "arrest, detention and internment for the duration of the war." is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... F.B.I. and FBI redirect here. ...

Executive Order 9066 and related actions

Children at the Weill public school in San Francisco pledge allegiance to the American flag in April 1942, prior to the internment of Japanese Americans.

Executive Order 9066, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, allowed authorized military commanders to designate "military areas" at their discretion, "from which any or all persons may be excluded." These "exclusion zones", unlike the "alien enemy" roundups, were applicable to anyone that an authorized military commander might choose, whether citizen or non-citizen. Eventually such zones would include parts of both the East and West Coasts totaling about 1/3 of the country by area. Unlike the subsequent detainment and internment programs that would come to be applied to large numbers of Japanese Americans, detentions and restrictions directly under this Individual Exclusion Program were placed primarily on individuals of German or Italian ancestry, including American citizens.^[18] The Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag is an oath of loyalty to the country. ... Flag ratio: 7:12; nicknames: Stars and Stripes, Old Glory The flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars... [[Media:Italic text]]{| style=float:right; |- | |- | |} is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• March 2, 1942: General John L. DeWitt issued Public Proclamation No. 1, informing all those of Japanese ancestry that they would, at some later point, be subject to exclusion orders from "Military Area No. 1" (essentially, the entire Pacific coast to about 100 miles (160.9 km) inland), and requiring anyone who had "enemy" ancestry to file a Change of Residence Notice if they planned to move.^[7] A second exclusion zone was designated several months later, which included the areas chosen by most of the Japanese Americans who had managed to leave the first zone.
• March 11, 1942: Executive Order 9095 created the Office of the Alien Property Custodian, and gave it discretionary, plenary authority over all alien property interests. Many assets were frozen, creating immediate financial difficulty for the affected aliens, preventing most from moving out of the exclusion zones.^[7]

• March 24, 1942: Public Proclamation No. 3 declares an 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew for "all enemy aliens and all persons of Japanese ancestry" within the military areas.^[19]
• March 24, 1942: General DeWitt began to issue Civilian Exclusion Orders for specific areas within "Military Area No. 1."^[19]
• March 27, 1942: General DeWitt's Proclamation No. 4 prohibited all those of Japanese ancestry from leaving "Military Area No. 1" for "any purpose until and to the extent that a future proclamation or order of this headquarters shall so permit or direct."^[7]
• May 3, 1942: General DeWitt issued Civilian Exclusion Order No. 346, ordering all people of Japanese ancestry, whether citizens or non-citizens, to report to assembly centers, where they would live until being moved to permanent "Relocation Centers."^[7]

Also included are persons of part-Japanese ancestry: Chinese-Japanese Americans (those who had Chinese ancestry as well), Korean-Americans^{[citation needed]} considered to have Japanese nationality (Korea was under Japan during WWII), Japanese-Hawaiians residing in the mainland, Japanese-Cherokee (a pattern of early intermarriage with the two racial groups in California) and Japanese Latin Americans (or "Japanese Latinos") from the West Coast of the United States during World War II. Anyone who is at least one-eighth Japanese, even if they are white or Caucasian, were eligible.^{[citation needed]}-1... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Lesesne DeWitt was an American Army general, best known for his role in the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. In the course of carrying out policy, he issued military proclamations that applied to American men, women and children who happened to have Japanese ancestry, restricting their... is the 70th day of the year (71st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 83rd day of the year (84th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 83rd day of the year (84th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 86th day of the year (87th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ...

Non-military advocates for exclusion, removal, and detention

Internment was popular among many white farmers who resented the Japanese American farmers. These individuals saw internment as a convenient means of uprooting their Japanese American competitors. Austin E. Anson, managing secretary of the Salinas Vegetable Grower-Shipper Association, told the Saturday Evening Post in 1942: "We're charged with wanting to get rid of the Japs for selfish reasons. We do. It's a question of whether the white man lives on the Pacific Coast or the brown men… If all the Japs were removed tomorrow, we had never miss them in two weeks, because the white farmers can take over and produce everything the Jap grows. And we do not want them back when the war ends, either."^[20]

In fact internment was likely responsible for a massive influx in immigration from Mexico. Significant labor was necessary to take over the Japanese Americans' farms at a time when many American laborers were also being inducted into the Armed Forces. Thousands of Nikkei, temporarily released from the internment camps to harvest Western beet crops, were credited with saving this industry. Nikkei can refer to: The Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper The Nikkei 225 stock market index This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Military necessity as justification for internment

Japan's wartime spy program

The case of Velvalee Dickinson, who was involved in a Japanese spy ring, contributed to heightening American apprehensions.^[21] The most widely reported examples of espionage and treason were those of the Tachibana spy ring and the Niihau Incident. The Tachibana spy ring was a group of Japanese nationals who were arrested shortly before the Pearl Harbor attack and were deported.^[22] The Niihau Incident occurred just after the Pearl Harbor attack, when two Japanese Americans on Niihau freed a captured Japanese pilot and assisted him in his attack on Native Hawaiians there.^[23] Despite this incident taking place in Hawaii, the Territorial Governor rejected calls for wholesale internment of Japanese Americans there. Velvalee Dickinson (October 12, 1893 - ca. ... On December 7, 1941, a Japanese Zero pilot crash-landed on the Hawaiian island of Niihau directly after participating in the Pearl Harbor attack. ... Niihau is the smallest of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands in the U.S. State of HawaiÊ»i, having an area of 179. ... Native Hawaiians (in Hawaiian, kānaka ōiwi or kānaka maoli) are member[s] or descendant[s] of the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.[2] Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the first Marquesan and Tahitian settlers of Hawaii (possibly as early as AD 400), before the...

Magic

In Magic: The Untold Story of US Intelligence and the Evacuation of Japanese Residents From the West Coast During World War II (2001, Athena Press), David Lowman (1921-1999), a Former Special Assistant to the Director of the National Security Agency, argues that Roosevelt was persuaded to authorize the evacuation when told the US had only partly and with great difficulty broken the Japanese Naval codes. Successful prosecution of Japanese-Americans would force the government to release information revealing their knowledge of Japanese ciphers. If the Imperial Navy changed its codes, Roosevelt was told, it might be months or even years before they could be read again. Magic was the code-name for American code-breaking efforts. Japanese codes were based on the same Enigma machine used by the Germans, but because of language differences, and because a code sheet had never been captured, breaking Japanese codes proved even more difficult than breaking German ones.

Lowman argues that the Battle of Midway was won by the US only because the US read the Japanese ciphers. Otherwise the two American carriers would not have been in the right position to sink four Japanese carriers. He also credits Magic with shooting down Admiral Yamamoto's plane. Belligerents United States Imperial Japanese Navy Commanders Chester W. Nimitz Frank J. Fletcher Raymond A. Spruance Isoroku Yamamoto Chuichi Nagumo Tamon Yamaguchi† Strength 3 carriers, ~50 support ships, 233 carrier aircraft, 127 land-based aircraft 4 carriers, 7 battleships, ~150 support ships, 264 carrier aircraft,[1] 16 floatplanes Casualties and... Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku Yamamoto (山本 五十六 Yamamoto Isoroku) (April 4, 1884 - April 18, 1943) was the outstanding Japanese naval commander of World War II. Family background Yamamoto was born Isoroku Takano (高野 五十六 Takano Isoroku) in Nagaoka in Niigata. ...

Rebuttals of charges of espionage, disloyalty and anti-American activity

Critics of the internment argue that the military justification was unfounded, citing the absence of any subsequent convictions of Japanese Americans for espionage or sabotage. Serving from 1999 to 2003, Army General Eric Shinseki of Hawaii became the first Asian American military chief of staff. ...

In fact, architects of the internment, including DeWitt and Army Major Karl Bendetsen, cited the complete lack of sabotage as "a disturbing and confirming indication that such action will be taken" (Memorandum to Secretary of War, 13 FEB 1942).

Critics of the internment also note that it seems unlikely that Japanese Americans in Japan had any choice other than to be conscripted into the Japanese army, given (1) that it was near-impossible for them to return to the U.S. from Japan, and (2) that the United States had already classified all people of Japanese ancestry as "enemy aliens."^[22]

An additional reason to question the necessity of internment was an official report by Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Ringle, a naval intelligence officer tasked with evaluating the loyalty of the Japanese American population. LCDR Ringle estimated in a 1941 report to his superiors that "more than 90% of the Nisei [second generation] and 75% of the original immigrants were completely loyal to the United States." A 1941 report prepared on President Roosevelt's orders by Curtis B. Munson, special representative of the State Department, concluded that most Japanese nationals and "90 to 98%" of Japanese American citizens were loyal. He wrote: "There is no Japanese 'problem' on the Coast… There is far more danger from Communists and people of the Bridges type on the Coast than there is from Japanese."^[24] Harry Bridges (July 28, 1901 – March 30, 1990) was an influential American labor leader in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), a union of longshore and warehouse workers on the West Coast, Hawaii and Alaska which he helped form and led for over forty years. ...

FBI director J. Edgar Hoover also opposed the internment of Japanese Americans. Refuting General DeWitt's reports of disloyalty on the part of Japanese Americans, Hoover sent a memo to Attorney General Francis Biddle in which he wrote about Japanese American disloyalty, "Every complaint in this regard has been investigated, but in no case has any information been obtained which would substantiate the allegation." The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972), known popularly as J. Edgar Hoover, was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. ... The Nuremberg judges, left to right: John Parker, Francis Biddle, Alexander Volchkov, Iona Nikitchenko, Geoffrey Lawrence, Norman Birkett Francis Beverley Biddle (May 9, 1886 – October 4, 1968) was an American lawyer and judge who is most famous as the primary American judge during the Nuremberg trials after World War II...

General DeWitt and Colonel Bendetsen kept this information out of Final Report: Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast - 1942, which was written in April of 1943 — a time when DeWitt was fighting against an order that Nisei soldiers (members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service) were to be considered "loyal" and permitted into the Exclusion Zones while on leave. DeWitt and Bendetsen initially issued 10 copies of the report, then hastily recalled them to rewrite passages which showed racist bases for the exclusion. Among other justifications, the report stated flatly that, because of their race, it was impossible to determine the loyalty of Japanese Americans. The original version was so offensive — even in the atmosphere of the wartime 1940s — that Bendetsen ordered all copies to be destroyed. Not a single piece of paper was to be left giving any evidence that an earlier version had existed.

United States District Court opinions

Official notice of exclusion and removal

In 1980, a copy of the original Final Report was found in the National Archives, along with notes showing the numerous differences between the two versions. This earlier, racist and inflammatory version, as well as the FBI and ONI reports, led to the coram nobis retrials which overturned the convictions of Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi and Minoru Yasui on all charges related to their refusal to submit to exclusion and internment. Truman Library via NARA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Truman Library via NARA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... In law, a motion Coram Nobis (from the Latin in our presence, usually translated in context as the error before us) is a petition to the court in its capacity of a Court of Equity to correct a previous error of the most fundamental character to achieve justice where no... This article is about Fred Korematsu. ... Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi (born April 23, 1918) He was born in Seattle to a Christian family who were associated with the Mukyōkai Christian Movement. ...

The courts found that the government had intentionally withheld these reports and other critical evidence, at trials all the way up to the Supreme Court, which would have proved that there was no military necessity for the exclusion and internment of Japanese Americans. In the words of Department of Justice officials writing during the war, the justifications were based on "willful historical inaccuracies and intentional falsehoods."

Facilities

Japanese American family awaiting evacuation in Hayward, California in 1942 as photographed by Dorothea Lange.

While this event is most commonly called the internment of Japanese Americans, in fact there were several different types of camps involved. The best known facilities were the Assembly Centers run by the Western Civilian Control Administration (WCCA), and the Relocation Centers run by the War Relocation Authority (WRA), which are generally (but unofficially) referred to as "internment camps." The Department of Justice (DOJ) operated camps officially called Internment Camps, which were used to detain those suspected of actual crimes or "enemy sympathies." German American internment and Italian American internment camps were also run, sometimes sharing facilities with the Japanese Americans. The WCCA and WRA facilities were the largest and the most public. The WCCA Assembly Centers were temporary facilities that were first set up in horse racing tracks, fairgrounds and other large public meeting places to assemble and organize internees before they were transported to WRA Relocation Centers by truck, bus or train. The WRA Relocation Centers were camps that housed persons removed from the exclusion zone after March 1942, or until they were able to relocate elsewhere in America outside the exclusion zone. Dorothea Lange (May 25, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). ... The War Relocation Authority (WRA) was U.S. civilian agency responsible for the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The WRA was created by President Roosevelt on March 18, 1942 with Executive Order 9102 and officially ceased to exist June 30, 1946. ... Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, Washington, D.C. For animal rights group, see Justice Department (JD) The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the... German American Internment refers to the detention of persons of German ancestry in the United States during World War II. Many of the detainees were American citizens. ... Italian American Internment in the United States during World War II is less known than the internment of Japanese-Americans in the same period, and although there are emotional and common-sense similarities, there are important differences that must be observed. ...

DOJ Internment Camps

During World War II, over 7,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese from Latin America were held in internment camps run by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, part of the Department of Justice. There were twenty-seven U.S. Department of Justice Camps, eight of which (in Texas, Idaho, North Dakota, New Mexico, and Montana) held Japanese Americans. The camps were guarded by Border Patrol agents rather than military police and were intended for non-citizens including Buddhist ministers, Japanese language instructors, newspaper workers, and other community leaders. Old INS building in Seattle The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was a part of the United States Department of Justice and handled legal and illegal immigration and naturalization. ... Categories: Stub | U.S. Dept. ...

In addition 2,210 persons of Japanese ancestry taken from 12 Latin American countries by the U.S. State and Justice Departments were held at the Department of Justice Camps. Approximately 1,800 were Japanese Peruvians. The rumor persists that the United States intended to use them in hostage exchanges with Japan, but there is no historical evidence that this was ever the plan. There was a program to repatriate Americans (civilian and POW) and Japanese nationals, but this was ended after reports by international observers described the treatment given to internees.^[25]

After the war, 1,400 were not allowed to return to their Latin American homes and more than 900 Japanese Peruvians were involuntarily deported to Japan. Three hundred fought deportation in the courts and were allowed to settle in the United States.

Initially, the Japanese brought into the United States from South America were to be deported because they had entered the country without passports or visas. Later Court of Appeals decisions overturned this absurd finding, pointing out that they had been brought into the country both against their will and following a process which was essentially a form of kidnapping at the behest of the United States.

WCCA Assembly Centers

Executive Order 9066 authorized the evacuation of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast; it was signed when there was no place for the Japanese Americans to go. When voluntary evacuation proved impractical, the military took over full responsibility for the evacuation; on April 9, 1942, the Wartime Civilian Control Agency (WCCA) was established by the military to coordinate the evacuation to inland relocation centers. However, the relocation centers were far from ready for large influxes of people. For some, there was still contention over the location, but for most, their placement in isolated undeveloped areas of the country exacerbated problems of building infrastructure and housing. Since the Japanese Americans living in the restricted zone were considered too dangerous to freely conduct their daily business, the military decided it was necessary to find temporary "assembly centers" to house the evacuees until the relocation centers were completed.^[26] is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A hot windstorm brings dust from the surrounding desert July 3, 1942 Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in Californias Owens Valley... Tule Lake War Relocation Center was an internment camp in northern California near Tule Lake used in the Japanese-American internment during World War II. It was one of the largest and most notorious of the camps, and did not close until after the war, in 1946. ... painting of the Poston War Relocation Center painted by Japanese American, Tom Tanaka while interned The Poston Relocation Center, located in Yuma County (now in La Paz County) of Arizona, was the largest of the internment camps operated by the War Relocation Authority during World War II. Actually composed of... The Gila River War Relocation Center was an internment camp built by the War Relocation Authority (WRA) for internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. ... Japanese evacuees stand or sit with their suitcases and belongings in front of an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway passenger car on August 30, 1942. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Minidoka Internment National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located 17 miles (27 km) northeast of Twin Falls, Idaho and just north of Eden, Idaho in an area known as Hunt. ... The Topaz Relocation Center was an internment camp which housed Nikkei -- Americans of Japanese descent and immigrants who had come to the United States from Japan. ... The Rohwer War Relocation Center was a World War II Japanese American internment camp located in rural southeastern Arkansas, in Desha County. ... Jerome War Relocation Center in Jerome, Arkansas The Jerome War Relocation Center was a Japanese American internment camp located in southeastern Arkansas near the tiny town of Jerome. ...

WRA Relocation Camps

The War Relocation Authority (WRA) was the U.S. civilian agency responsible for the relocation and detention. The WRA was created by President Roosevelt on March 18, 1942 with Executive Order 9102 and officially ceased to exist June 30, 1946. Milton S. Eisenhower, then an official of the Department of Agriculture, was chosen to head the WRA. Within nine months, the WRA had opened ten facilities in seven states, and transferred over 100,000 people from the WCCA facilities. The War Relocation Authority (WRA) was U.S. civilian agency responsible for the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The WRA was created by President Roosevelt on March 18, 1942 with Executive Order 9102 and officially ceased to exist June 30, 1946. ... is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Executive Order 9102 created the War Relocation Authority (WRA) which was the U.S. civilian agency responsible for the relocation and detention of Japanese-Americans during World War II. This executive order was signed by President Roosevelt on March 18, 1942 and officially expired on June 30, 1946. ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Milton Stover Eisenhower (September 15, 1899 - May 2, 1985) served as president of three major American universities. ...

The WRA camp at Tule Lake, though initially like the other camps, eventually became a detention center for people believed to pose a security risk. Tule Lake also served as a "segregation center" for individuals and families who were deemed "disloyal" and for those who were to be deported to Japan. Tule Lake War Relocation Center was an internment camp in northern California near Tule Lake used in the Japanese-American internment during World War II. It was one of the largest and most notorious of the camps, and did not close until after the war, in 1946. ...

List of camps

There were three types of camps. Civilian Assembly Centers were temporary camps, most located at horse tracks, where the Nikkei were sent as they were removed from their communities. Eventually, most were sent to Relocation Centers, also known as internment camps. Detention camps housed Nikkei considered to be disruptive or of special interest to the government.^[28]

Civilian Assembly Centers

• Arcadia, California (Santa Anita Racetrack, stables)
• Fresno, California (Big Fresno Fairgrounds, racetrack, stables)
• Marysville / Arboga, California (migrant workers' camp)
• Mayer, Arizona (Civilian Conservation Corps camp)
• Merced, California (county fairgrounds)
• Owens Valley, California
• Parker Dam, Arizona
• Pinedale, California (Pinedale Assembly Center, warehouses)
• Pomona, California (Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, racetrack, stables)
• Portland, Oregon (Pacific International Livestock Exposition, including 3,800 housed in the main pavilion building)
• Puyallup, Washington (fairgrounds racetrack stables, Informally known as "Camp Harmony")
• Sacramento / Walerga, California (migrant workers' camp)
• Salinas, California (fairgrounds, racetrack, stables)
• San Bruno, California (Tanforan racetrack, stables)
• Stockton, California (San Joaquin County Fairgrounds, racetrack, stables)
• Tulare, California (fairgrounds, racetrack, stables)
• Turlock, California (Stanislaus County Fairgrounds)
• Woodland, California

Lily Okuru, a Japanese-American woman held at Santa Anita Park, poses with the statue of Seabiscuit, 1942 Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California opened in 1934 and is the oldest and most prestigious horse racetrack in Southern California. ... The Big Fresno Fairgrounds, located in Fresno, California, is the site of the annual Big Fresno Fair. ... CCC workers on road construction, Camp Euclid, Ohio 1936 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a work relief program for young men from unemployed families, established on March 19, 1933 by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... Pinedale is an unincorporated town in Fresno County, California. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... The Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center, usually referred to as the Expo Center, is a convention center located in Portland, Oregon. ... Camp Harmony was the unofficial name of the Puyallup Assembly Center, a temporary facility within the system of internment camps set up for Japanese Americans during World War II. More than 7000 Americans of Japanese descent in Washington state were sent to the camp before being sent to the Minidoka... The Shops at Tanforan is a shopping mall and business area in San Bruno, California, in the Peninsula area of the Bay Area, 10 miles south of San Francisco. ...

List of internment camps

• Gila River War Relocation Center, Arizona
• Granada War Relocation Center, Colorado (AKA "Amache")
• Heart Mountain War Relocation Center, Wyoming
• Jerome War Relocation Center, Arkansas
• Manzanar War Relocation Center, California
• Minidoka War Relocation Center, Idaho
• Poston War Relocation Center, Arizona
• Rohwer War Relocation Center, Arkansas
• Topaz War Relocation Center, Utah
• Tule Lake War Relocation Center California

The Gila River War Relocation Center was an internment camp built by the War Relocation Authority (WRA) for internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. ... Japanese evacuees stand or sit with their suitcases and belongings in front of an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway passenger car on August 30, 1942. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Jerome War Relocation Center in Jerome, Arkansas The Jerome War Relocation Center was a Japanese American internment camp located in southeastern Arkansas near the tiny town of Jerome. ... Manzanar sign Manzanar National Historic Landmark (better known as Manzanar War Relocation Center) was a Japanese American internment camp during World War II that operated near Independence, California. ... Minidoka Internment National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located 17 miles (27 km) northeast of Twin Falls, Idaho and just north of Eden, Idaho in an area known as Hunt. ... painting of the Poston War Relocation Center painted by Japanese American, Tom Tanaka while interned The Poston Relocation Center, located in Yuma County (now in La Paz County) of Arizona, was the largest of the internment camps operated by the War Relocation Authority during World War II. Actually composed of... The Rohwer War Relocation Center was a World War II Japanese American internment camp located in rural southeastern Arkansas, in Desha County. ... The Topaz Relocation Center was an internment camp which housed Nikkei -- Americans of Japanese descent and immigrants who had come to the United States from Japan. ... Tule Lake War Relocation Center was an internment camp in northern California near Tule Lake used in the Japanese-American internment during World War II. It was one of the largest and most notorious of the camps, and did not close until after the war, in 1946. ...

Justice Department detention camps

These camps often held German and Italian detainees in addition to Japanese Americans:^[28]

• Crystal City, Texas
• Fort Lincoln, North Dakota
• Fort Missoula, Montana
• Fort Stanton, New Mexico
• Kennedy, Texas
• Kooskia, Idaho
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Segoville, Texas

Crystal City is a city in Zavala County, Texas, United States. ... Fort Lincoln was a military post and detention center located near Bismarck, North Dakota. ... Fort Missoula Internment Camp was an internment camp operated by the United States Department of Justice during the Second World War. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ...

Citizen Isolation Centers

The Citizen Isolation Centers were for those considered to be problem inmates.^[28]

• Leupp, Arizona
• Moab, Utah (AKA Dalton Wells)
• Old Raton Ranch/Fort Stanton, New Mexico

Leupp (Navajo Tsiizizii) is a census-designated place located in Coconino County, Arizona. ... For other instances of Moab, see Moab (disambiguation). ...

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Detainees convicted of crimes, usually draft resistance, were sent to these camps:^[28]

• Catalina, Arizona
• Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
• McNeill Island, Washington

US Army facilities

These camps often held German and Italian detainees in addition to Japanese Americans:^[28]

• Angel Island/Fort McDowell
• Camp Blanding, Florida
• Camp Forrest
• Camp Livingston, Louisiana
• Camp Lordsburg, New Mexico
• Camp McCoy, Wisconsin
• Florence, Arizona
• Fort Bliss
• Fort Howard
• Fort Lewis
• Fort Meade
• Fort Richardson
• Fort Sam Houston
• Fort Sill, Oklahoma
• Griffith Park
• Honolulu, Hawaii
• Sand Island, Hawaii
• Stringtown, Oklahoma

Exclusion, removal, and detention

Baggage of Japanese Americans evacuated from certain West coast areas under United States Army war emergency order, who have arrived at a reception center at a racetrack.

110,000 to 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were subject to this mass exclusion program, of whom approximately two-thirds were U.S. citizens.^[2] The remaining one-third were non-citizens subject to internment under the Alien Enemies Act; many of these "resident aliens" had long been inhabitants of the United States, but had been deprived the opportunity to attain citizenship by laws that blocked Asian-born nationals from ever achieving citizenship. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 598 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 765 pixel, file size: 240 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Date May 1942 Author Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration Permission File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 598 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 765 pixel, file size: 240 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Date May 1942 Author Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration Permission File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other... The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed on July 14, 1798 under the administration of President John Adams. ...

This U.S. soldier of Japanese descent and American citizenship waits at a train station in Florin, CA. He, along with nine other servicemen, was granted a furlough from their service to return to the U.S. to assist with their families' relocation and internment.^[29] April 10, 1942

Internees of Japanese descent were first sent to one of 17 temporary "Civilian Assembly Centers," where most awaited transfer to more permanent relocation centers being constructed by the newly-formed War Relocation Authority (WRA). Some of those who did report to the civilian assembly centers were not sent to relocation centers, but were released upon condition that they remain outside the prohibited zone until the military orders were modified or lifted. Almost 120,000^[2] Japanese Americans and resident Japanese aliens would eventually be removed from their homes in California, the western halves of Oregon and Washington and southern Arizona as part of the single largest forced relocation in U.S. history. Image File history File links Japanesedecendedussoldier-1942. ... Image File history File links Japanesedecendedussoldier-1942. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The War Relocation Authority (WRA) was U.S. civilian agency responsible for the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The WRA was created by President Roosevelt on March 18, 1942 with Executive Order 9102 and officially ceased to exist June 30, 1946. ... This article is about the U.S state. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... For the capital city of the United States, see Washington, D.C.. For other uses, see Washington (disambiguation). ... Official language(s) English Spoken language(s) English 74. ... American history redirects here. ...

Most of these camps/residences, gardens, and stock areas were placed on Native American reservations, for which the Native Americans were formally compensated. The Native American councils disputed the amounts negotiated in absentia by US government authorities and later sued finding relief and additional compensation for some items of dispute.^[30]

Under the National Student Council Relocation Program (supported primarily by the American Friends Service Committee), students of college age were permitted to leave the camps in order to attend institutions which were willing to accept students of Japanese ancestry. Although the program initially granted leave permits to only a very small number of students, this eventually grew to 2,263 students by December 31, 1943.^{[citation needed]} American Friends Service Committee logo The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) affiliated organization which works for social justice, peace and reconciliation, abolition of the death penalty, and human rights, and provides humanitarian relief. ... is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Los Angeles, California. Japanese Americans going to Manzanar gather around a baggage car at the old Santa Fe Station. (April 1942)^[31]

http://memory. ... http://memory. ... A hot windstorm brings dust from the surrounding desert July 3, 1942 Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in Californias Owens Valley...

Curfew and exclusion

The exclusion from Military Area No. 1 initially occurred through a voluntary relocation policy. Under the voluntary relocation policy, the Japanese Americans were free to go anywhere outside of the exclusion zone; however the arrangements and costs of relocation were borne by the individuals. The night-time curfew, initiated on 27 March 1942, was the first mass-action restricting the Japanese Americans. is the 86th day of the year (87th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Conditions in the camps

According to a 1943 War Relocation Authority report, internees were housed in "tar paper-covered barracks of simple frame construction without plumbing or cooking facilities of any kind." The spartan facilities met international laws, but still left much to be desired. Many camps were built quickly by civilian contractors during the summer of 1942 based on designs for military barracks, making the buildings poorly equipped for cramped family living. The War Relocation Authority (WRA) was U.S. civilian agency responsible for the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The WRA was created by President Roosevelt on March 18, 1942 with Executive Order 9102 and officially ceased to exist June 30, 1946. ...

Dust storm at Manzanar War Relocation Center.

A baseball game at Manzanar. Picture by Ansel Adams circa 1943.

To describe the conditions in more detail, the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center in northwestern Wyoming was a barbed-wire-surrounded enclave with unpartitioned toilets, cots for beds, and a budget of 45 cents daily per capita for food rations.^[32] Because most internees were evacuated from their West Coast homes on short notice and not told of their destination, many failed to pack appropriate clothing for Wyoming winters which often reached temperatures below zero Fahrenheit. Many families were forced to simply take the "clothes on their backs."^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1139x867, 170 KB) Summary Description: Dust storm at this war Relocation authority center where evacuees of Japanese ancestry are spending the duration. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1139x867, 170 KB) Summary Description: Dust storm at this war Relocation authority center where evacuees of Japanese ancestry are spending the duration. ... A hot windstorm brings dust from the surrounding desert July 3, 1942 Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in Californias Owens Valley... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x730, 134 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Manzanar Japanese American internment ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x730, 134 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Manzanar Japanese American internment ... A hot windstorm brings dust from the surrounding desert July 3, 1942 Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in Californias Owens Valley... Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Official language(s) English Capital Cheyenne Largest city Cheyenne Area  Ranked 10th  - Total 97,818 sq mi (253,348 km²)  - Width 280 miles (450 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 0. ...

Armed guards were posted at the camps, which were all in remote, desolate areas far from population centers. Internees were typically allowed to stay with their families, and were treated well unless they violated the rules. There are documented instances of guards shooting internees who reportedly attempted to walk outside the fences. One such shooting, that of James Wakasa at Topaz, led to a re-evaluation of the security measures in the camps. Some camp administrations eventually allowed relatively free movement outside the marked boundaries of the camps. Nearly a quarter of the internees left the camps to live and work elsewhere in the United States, outside the exclusion zone. Eventually, some were authorized to return to their hometowns in the exclusion zone under supervision of a sponsoring American family or agency whose loyalty had been assured.^{[citation needed]}

The phrase "shikata ga nai" (loosely translated as "it cannot be helped") was commonly used to summarize the interned families' resignation to their helplessness throughout these conditions. This was even noticed by the children, as mentioned in Farewell to Manzanar. Although that may be the view to outsiders, the Japanese people tended to comply with the U.S. government to prove themselves loyal citizens. This perceived loyalty to the United States can be attributed to the collective mentality of Japanese culture, where citizens are more concerned with the overall good of the group as opposed to focusing on individual wants and needs. ^[33] Shikata ga nai (仕方が無い) is a popular phrase used in Japanese literature and media, meaning It cant be helped or There is no other way. ... Cover of the 1983 edition Farewell to Manzanar is a memoir published in 1972 by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston. ...

Loyalty questions and segregation

Some Japanese Americans did question the American government, after finding themselves in internment camps. Several pro-Japan groups formed inside the camps, particularly at the Tule Lake location.^[34] When the government passed a law that made it possible for an internee to renounce her or his U.S. citizenship, 5,589 internees opted to do so; 5,461 of these were at Tule Lake.^[34] Of those who renounced their citizenship, 1,327 were repatriated to Japan.^[34] Many of these individuals would later face stigmatization in the Japanese American community, after the war, for having made that choice, although even at the time they were not certain what their futures held were they to remain American, and remain interned.^[34]

The American Civil Liberties Union successfully challenged most of these renunciations as invalid because of the conditions under which the government obtained them. These conditions were described as "coercion, duress, and mass compulsion" by Marvin Opler, a WRA official who had observed some of the renunciation hearings and supported the restoration of citizenship to the expatriated Japanese Americans.^{[citation needed]} It is interesting to note that many of the deportees were Issei (first generation Japanese; immigrants) who often had difficulty with English and often did not understand the questions they were asked.^{[citation needed]} Even among those Issei who had a clear understanding, Question 28 posed an awkward dilemma: Japanese immigrants were denied US citizenship at the time, so when asked to renounce their Japanese citizenship, answering "Yes" would have made them stateless persons. Faced with possible deportation to Japan, the Issei largely refused to renounce their only citizenship.^{[citation needed]} The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American organization consisting of two separate entities: the ACLU Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on litigation and communication efforts, and the American Civil Liberties Union which focuses on legislative lobbying and does not have non-profit status. ... Marvin Kaufmann Opler (born June 13, 1914 in Buffalo, New York - died January 3, 1981) was an American anthropologist and social psychiatrist. ...

When the government circulated a questionnaire seeking army volunteers from among the internees, 6% of military-aged male respondents volunteered to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.^{[citation needed]} Most of those who refused, however, tempered that refusal with statements of willingness to fight if they were restored their rights as American citizens. It is also important to note that there were 20,000 Japanese American men in the U.S. Army during World War II and many Japanese American women.^[35]

442nd Infantry Regiment Coat of Arms

The famed and highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which fought in Europe, was formed from those Japanese Americans who did agree to serve. This unit was the most highly decorated unit of its size and length.^[36] Most notably, the 442nd was known for saving the 141st (or the "lost battalion") from the Germans. The 1951 film Go For Broke! was a fairly accurate portrayal of the 442nd, and starred several of the RCT's veterans. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, hiking up a muddy French road in the Chambois Sector, France, in late 1944. ... Animation of the WWII European Theatre. ... Go for Broke! is a war film released