Japanese American internment is the term commonly used to describe the forced relocation and confinement of people of Japanese ancestry in the United States during World War II (1939-1945). The U.S. government began the internment following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. At that time, many people in the government viewed people of Japanese descent as potentially dangerous and disloyal.
In February 1942, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The order authorized the removal of more than 110,000 Japanese immigrants (known as the Issei) and their U.S.-born children (Nisei) from the West Coast and southern Arizona. With little warning, families had to leave their shops, farms, and homes. The government first brought the detainees to temporary camps. By the end of 1942, the government had moved them to permanent camps in remote parts of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. The camps were administered by the War Relocation Authority, a government agency established in March 1942. The camps had barbed-wire fences and guard towers. Most families lived in a single room and ate in group dining halls. The detainees worked in schools, farms, hospitals, and other facilities at the camps. Eventually, detainees could apply for leave to harvest crops, attend college, or serve in the military.
Two-thirds of the Japanese Americans in the camps were U.S. citizens. The camps were closed after the end of World War II, and Japanese Americans were allowed to return to their homes. However, many of the homes had been vandalized and looted.
In 1982, a congressional commission concluded that the internment was due to racism, war hysteria, and failed leadership. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 granted a payment of $20,000 and a presidential apology to camp survivors.
