Internment Camps

• Between 1942 and 1945, the U.S. government forced more than 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes, farms, schools, jobs and businesses, in violation of their constitutional civil rights

and liberties.

Roosevelt’s Executive OrdersWhereas the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against

espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities as defined in Section 4, Act of April 20, 1918, 40 Stat. 533, as amended

by the Act of November 30, 1940, 54 Stat. 1220, and the Act of August 21, 1941, 55 Stat. 655 (U.S.C., Title 50, Sec. 104);

Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders whom he may from time to time designate, whenever he or any

designated Commander deems such action necessary or desirable, to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any

person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War or the appropriate Military Commander may impose in his discretion. The Secretary of War is

hereby authorized to provide for residents of any such area who are excluded therefrom, such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessary, in the judgment of the Secretary of War or the said Military Commander, and until other arrangements are made,

to accomplish the purpose of this order. The designation of military areas in any region or locality shall supersede designations of prohibited and restricted areas by the Attorney General under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, and shall supersede the responsibility and

authority of the Attorney General under the said Proclamations in respect of such prohibited and restricted areas. ….

• Basically: He gave powers to the secretary of war to make needed decisions on the relocation of Japanese Americans, German Americans, and Italian Americans. He felt it necessary to protect against “espionage” and “sabotage”

Justification

• After World War II the United States Government ruled the Detainment of Japanese Americans unconstitutional. Some were given a train ticket home, while others were subject to be sent back to Japan.

• American Japanese Claims Act ~ meant to compensate Japanese Americans’ loss.

• Governor Ralph Lawrence publicly apologizes • Redress Movement (1960’s)

– Demanded public apology for the wrongs done

– Demanded a decent reparation as well ( $25, 000 )

– President Ford was the president to state that the internment was wrong

Court Cases • Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944)

•  Fred Korematsu  was arrested and convicted for not reporting to an assembly center in May 1942 nese descent, was convicted in a federal district court for remaining in San Leandro, California, a 'Military Area', contrary to Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34 of the Commanding General [323 U.S. 214 , 216] of the Western Command, U.S. Army, which directed that after May 9, 1942, all persons of Japanese ancestry should be excluded from that area. No question was raised as to petitioner's loyalty to the United States.

• Hirabayashi v. United States 320 U.S. 81(1943)

•  Hirbayashi,  an American citizen of Japanese ancestry, was convicted in the district court of  knowingly disregarding restrictions made applicable by a military commander to persons in a military area prescribed by him as such, all as authorized by an Executive Order of the President.

• Yasui vs. United States, 320 U.S. 115 (1943)

• Yasui, an American born person of Japanese ancestry, was convicted in the district court of an offense of a curfew order.

 

Compensation and Lawsuits• Minidoka Lawsuit• In an effort to prevent a massive animal feedlot from being built near Minidoka• The National Trust for Historic Preservation is part of a coalition of groups and individuals that

filed suit in 5th District Court, seeking to stop the planned 13,000-animal dairy• President Bush signed a bill to expand and refurbish the monument, and to add an 8-acre site on

Bainbridge Islandas a satellite to the monument

• Civil Liberties Act of 1988• President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988• Pushed through Congress by Representative Norman Mineta and Senator Alan K. Simpson• Mineta and Simpson met while Mineta was interned at a camp in Wyoming• Provided redress of $20,000 for each surviving detainee. Totaling $1.2 billion

• George Bush• Nov. 21, 1989: George Bush authorized financial reparations to the Japanese Americans to help

compensate for the damage done to their lives• Sept. 27, 1992. The amendment of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 provided an additional 400$ in

the benefits.– Was signed by George Bush, who also used another formal apology from the Gov.

• Civil Liberties Act of 1988, "Restitution for World War II internment of Japanese-Americans and Aleuts," 50 App. USCA s 1989, 50 App. USCA s 1989

• The purposes of this Act (sections 1989 to 1989d of this  Appendix) are to -  • (1) acknowledge the fundamental injustice of the evacuation, relocation, and

internment of United States citizens and permanent resident aliens of Japanese ancestry during World War II; 

• (2) apologize on behalf of the people of the United States for the evacuation, relocation, and internment of such citizens and permanent resident aliens; 

• (3) provide for a public education fund to finance efforts to  inform the public about the internment of such individuals so as to prevent the recurrence of any similar event; 

•  (4) make restitution to those individuals of Japanese ancestry who were interned;  •  (5) make restitution to Aleut residents of the Pribilof Islands and the Aleutian Islands

west of Unimak Island, in settlement of  United States obligations in equity and at law, for - 

•           (A) injustices suffered and unreasonable hardships endured while those Aleut residents were under United States control  during World War II; 

•           (B) personal property taken or destroyed by United States forces during World War II; 

•           (C) community property, including community church property, taken or destroyed by United States forces during World War II;  and 

•           (D) traditional village lands on Attu Island not  rehabilitated after World War II for Aleut occupation or other productive use; (6) discourage the occurrence of similar injustices and  violations of civil liberties in the future; and 

•         (7) make more credible and sincere any declaration of concern by the United States over violations of human rights committed by other nations. 

Recent Events• February 19, 2009: The 67th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066

ordering the internment of persons of Japanese ancestry in the Pacific zone and the 30th annual Day of Remembrance for Japanese internment

• March 2009: The recently passed federal Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 appropriated $1 million for preservation of Japanese American Confinement Sites authorized in 2006 (PL 109-441)

• Administered by the National Park Service

Camp Locations

Camp Locations • In February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executice Order 9066 and gave the

U.S. Army the authority to move and imprison anyone they considered dangerous to our national security

• Within a month, they rounded up Japanese, Germans, and Italians, and brought to 10 Camps across the country

• Some Camp Locations~ Newell (Tule Lake, California) -18,789

~ Minidoka (Hunt, Idaho) - 9,397

~ Hear Mountain (Heart Mountain, Wyoming) - 10,767

~ Topaz (Topaz, Utah) - 8,130

~ Manzanar (Manzanar, California) - 10,046

~ Amache (Granada, Colorado) - 7,318

~ Colorado River (Poston, Arizona) - 17,814

~ Gila (Gila Rivers, Arizona) - 13,348

~ Rohwer (Rohwer, Arkansas) - 8,475

~erome (Denson, Arkansas) - 8,497

Camp Locations

Jerome (Denson, Arkansas)

Minidoka

• The Minidoka site was originally a 33,000-acre prison compound operated by the War Relocation Authority at the Jerome County farming community of Hunt

• It operated from 1942 through 1945 and held U.S. citizens of Japanese descent

• The Bainbridge site is where 227 men, women and children were rounded up and placed aboard a ferry in March 1942 to be sent to Minidoka

Treatment in Camps

• Block arrangements– Singles lived barracks– Families lived in huts

• Children in the camps treated badly• Poor treatment by military guards• Bad medical care• Extreme weather conditions• Internee work in camps

Effects on Internees and Violations of Civil Rights

• Violations• The internees were incarcerated

without any actual factual basis and without due process of law for up to four years.

• The reasoning U.S. leaders used for incarcerating these people was simply they felt that they caused a threat to national security. They were placed in these camps on a basis of race prejudice which was the result of the ongoing war hysteria rather then on the basis of factual evidence and justice.

• "the military authorities considered that the need for action was great, and time was short."

ResultsThe result of their incarceration was serious impacts on mental and physical health.It has been proved that internees have a twice as high rate of both heart disease and premature death.

That Damned FenceAnonymous poem from Poston Camp

They've sunk the posts deep into the groundThey've strung out wires all the way around.

With machine gun nests just over there,And sentries and soldiers everywhere. We're trapped like rats in a wired cage,

To fret and fume with impotent rage;Yonder whispers the lure of the night,

But that DAMNED FENCE assails our sight. We seek the softness of the midnight air,

But that DAMNED FENCE in the floodlight glareAwakens unrest in our nocturnal quest,And mockingly laughs with vicious jest. With nowhere to go and nothing to do,We feed terrible, lonesome, and blue:

That DAMNED FENCE is driving us crazy,Destroying our youth and making us lazy. Imprisoned in here for a long, long time,

We know we're punished--though we've committed no crime,Our thoughts are gloomy and enthusiasm damp,

To be locked up in a concentration camp. Loyalty we know, and patriotism we feel,

To sacrifice our utmost was our ideal,To fight for our country, and die, perhaps;

But we're here because we happen to be Japs. We all love life, and our country best,Our misfortune to be here in the west,

To keep us penned behind that DAMNED FENCE,Is someone's notion of NATIONAL DEFENCE!

Time Line • 1941• December 7 Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. Presidential Proclamation No. 2525 gives blanket

authority to Attorney General for a sweep of suspects

• December 9 Many Japanese language schools closed.

• December 11 FBI warns against possession of cameras or guns by suspected "enemy" aliens

• 1942• January 1 Attorney General freezes travel by all suspected "enemy " aliens, orders surrender of weapons.

• January 14 President Roosevelt orders re-registration of suspected "enemy" aliens in West.

• January 29 US Attorney General Francis Biddle issued the first of a series of orders establishing limited strategic areas along the Pacific Coast and requiring the removal of all suspected "enemy" aliens from these areas.

• January 31 Attorney General establishes 59 additional prohibited zones in California to be cleared by February 15.

• February 19 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 9066, authorizing Secretary of War, or any military commander designated by Secretary to establish 'military areas' and exclude therefrom 'any or all persons'.

• March 7 Army acquire Owens Valley Site for Manzanar temporary detention center.

• March 18 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 9102 creating the War Relocation Authority to assist person evacuated by the military under Executive Order No. 9066. Milton S. Eisenhower was named Director.

• 1945• April 29 442--All Japanese American Regiment frees prisoners at Dachau Concentration Camps.

• August 15 V-J Day

• Oct 15- Dec 15 All WRA Internment camps are closed except for Tule Lake Center

Time Line • 1946• March 20 Tule Lake Segregation Center closed• 1989• November 2 President George Bush signed Public law 101-162 which guarantees fund for reparation payments

to the WW II internment survivors beginning in October of 1990. For the Japanese American community. it marks a victorious end to a long struggle for justice. For the nation, the President signature reaffirms the country's commitment to equal justice under the law