Japanese Internment Camps in the USA

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Japanese Internment Camps in the USA
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, majority of the Americans thought that Nikkei, or Japanese Americans, had something to do with it (Burgan 98). Rumors had it that they had hidden connections and exchanged military information. However, none of these rumors were ever proven. The government of the United States became greatly paranoid and demanded action. President Roosevelt issued an Executive Order 9066, on February 19, 1942, which required the Japanese Americans to be evacuated from the West Coast. The government claimed that interning these people was a “military necessity” (Heinrichs 60). The hasty enforcement of this order due to public hysteria violated rights of Japanese Americans and resulted in unnecessary attention and effort towards the internment camps. This paper will discuss the internment event and talk about its significance.
The relocation of these people was frightening, frustrating and confusing. Nikkei were expected to register and receive identification numbers (Hayashi 71). The governments had to inoculate them against communicable diseases, and were given a few days to divest anything they owned, including homes and businesses. They were required to bring only things they could carry and report to assembly centers: huge facilities like fairgrounds and racetracks. The centers became housing for many men, women and children. Livestock stalls and stables mostly served as sleeping and living quarters. Privacy for people was not present as they waited for weeks and even months to be moved to the assigned war relocation centers.
The government did not have any right to intern these people due to their ethnic background. The U.S. citizens argued that Japanese aliens in the country were a threat. However, over two-thirds of the people interned were American citizens. They had similar rights like all other American citizens. The American public concluded that everybody with Japanese ancestry was a saboteur thus heightening racial prejudices. Additionally, accusation of disloyalty among these people resulted in the state department sending an agent to investigate the issue and he concluded that the Nikkei had no problem and had a great degree of loyalty. The agent’s report claimed that mass incarceration was not necessary, yet the government kept his report a secret and ignored.
Propaganda pieces and racial stereotypes, which were prevalent during and before the war portrayed the Japanese as barbaric in nature and less than human. In most cases, the internees lost their possessions, businesses and homes after they were taken to internment camps. Despite all this, most of them believed that their best chance of proving their loyalty was participating in activities, which aided the U.S. in the war, like making parachutes and uniforms. Additionally, approximately 33,000 Nikkei soldiers joined the American military (Burgan 46). However, the public continued assuming Nikkei were disloyal and racial prejudice led to relocation of many innocent people. Racism and public hysteria influenced the actions by government due to the opinions of the public.
Therefore, since the government needed an excuse to react, the basis of the order was the bogus claim of military necessity. The unlawful internment of Japanese Americans took away their rights. In one case against the U.S. government the defendants claimed that the government violated their Fifth Amendment rights due to their ancestry (Cogan 321). Additionally, their fourth amendment right, the one for a public and speedy trial, was violated when they were deprived of their property and liberty through forceful removal. The government did not inform them of their crime and their right to trial was taken away. As detainees, they were not given the right to be brought to trial at a stated place and time to challenge their imprisonment. This proves that the government acted only on the discriminatory opinions of the pub...