The Camps
"At Gila, there were 7,700 people crowded into space designed for 5,000. They were housed in messhalls, recreation halls, and even latrines. As many as 25 persons lived in a space intended for four." - Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
The Japanese air force attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The next day, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. On December 19th, Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066 which allowed the military to disregard constitutional rights of American citizens in the name of national defense. This is the only war to suspend constitutional rights based on a specific ethnicity.
This order permitted the evacuation and relocation of people of Japanese descent, mostly on the West Coast, regardless of their citizenship status. Most Japanese Americans interned were US citizens or legal permanent resident aliens, their constitutional rights violated.
120,000 people were locked in camps across the West Coast for up to 4 years without due process of the law. Half were harmless children, who grew up in fear, surrounded by armed guards and barbed wire. President Roosevelt once called them "concentration camps," and like their German counterpart, families were separated and lived in dehumanizing conditions. Little medical care, intense emotional stress, and clashes with guards killed many in the camps.
This order permitted the evacuation and relocation of people of Japanese descent, mostly on the West Coast, regardless of their citizenship status. Most Japanese Americans interned were US citizens or legal permanent resident aliens, their constitutional rights violated.
120,000 people were locked in camps across the West Coast for up to 4 years without due process of the law. Half were harmless children, who grew up in fear, surrounded by armed guards and barbed wire. President Roosevelt once called them "concentration camps," and like their German counterpart, families were separated and lived in dehumanizing conditions. Little medical care, intense emotional stress, and clashes with guards killed many in the camps.
This violation of constitution rights was justified as a "military necessity" to protect from domestic espionage and sabotage. Year later it was stated that it was unnecessary because "our government had in its possession proof that not one Japanese American, citizen or not, had engaged in espionage, not one had committed any act of sabotage." The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians stated that it was "motivated largely by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership." No one of German or Italian descent was suspected as a spy or incarcerated.
The Civil Liberties Act of 1988, also called the Japanese American Redress Bill, acknowledged the "grave injustice" committed. A signed apology from the President was sent along with $20,000 to each victim.
The Civil Liberties Act of 1988, also called the Japanese American Redress Bill, acknowledged the "grave injustice" committed. A signed apology from the President was sent along with $20,000 to each victim.