JAPANESE AMERICANS TO BE RELOCATED TO INTERNMENT CAMPS
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order #9066 authorizing the removal of all people from military areas "as deemed necessary."
This order stated...
"Whereas the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and...sabotage to national defense...I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War to designate...military areas...from which any or all persons may be excluded."
Japanese Americans were first dispatched to assembly centers before being transported to various relocation centers located outside restricted military zones. These centers included locations at Tule Lake CA, Topaz UT, Jerome AR and Granada CO.
An internee was told the reason for the internment was for his own protection. He responded...
"Why were the guns at the guard towers pointed inward?"
It is estimated that 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent were moved to internment camps. 70,000 of these were American citizens. Those relocated by the order would not be allowed to return to their homes until December 17, 1944.
President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act in 1988 which gave each survivor of the internment camps $20,000 tax free along with the government's apology.
SOURCE
"Japanese Relocation During World War II," National Archives, www.archives.gov/
Japanese American Grocer
Oakland CA (1942)
Photo by Dorothea Lange
Library of Congress Image
