Previously published in examiner
By 1924 the Oriental Exclusion Law prevented Japanese immigrants from acquiring citizenship.
Custodial Detention Index – Between 1939 – 1941 the FBI used the census records to compile dossiers on people whom they felt were a threat for security, these records included foreign nationals immigrants, aliens, and of course Japanese citizens living in America.
June 28, 1940 – All aliens over 14 years old were required to register and be fingerprinted after the passing of the Alien Registration Act.
The Bombing of Pearl Harbor
The disruption of family life for Japanese people during world war created great hardship for Japanese women and their families
There was approximately 127,000 Japanese people living in California and the West Coast at the time of bombing of Pearl Harbor, 80,000 of these Japanese People were American citizens. Widespread suspicion broke out; Lt. General John L. Dewitt requested searches of Japanese homes looking for evidence of radio transmissions to Japan.
The Justice Department refused to issue search warrants without probable cause. but DeWitt was undaunted he know he could get the public on his side.
The Joint Immigration Committee was responsible for sending allegations against the Japanese to the local California newspapers stating that all Japanese were loyal to the homeland and were teaching Japanese propaganda in schools such as Japanese superiority. The Joint Immigration Committee had support from various organizations such as American Legion (California Department). They demanded incarcerating all Japanese in internment of concentration camps.
Besides the injustices of internment without any proof of disloyalty to America levied upon the Japanese there were a small group of Italian and Germans that were suspected as well.
The Attorney General of California, wanted to remove all Japanese people from the West Coast. The suspicion and distaste for Japanese people who had nothing to do with what was happening in Japan ran so high in California that this examiner can only shudder at the thought of what it must have been like to be Japanese during World War II.
To be continued
Japanese Canadians were interned during that second world war days, also German and Italian Canadian political activists. Adrien Arcand was a Montreal Journalist and fascist who campaigned from 1929 until his death in 1967 who was also interned. He appointed himself the Canadian führer.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment
http://topaztragedy.googlepages.com/home2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrien_Arcand
