Calculating the cost and verifying property-loss claims proved toīe challenging because few records had been kept. When Republicans took over both chambers in the 80th Congress (1947–1949), the political atmosphere on the Hill warmed to reparations, but hurdles Settled on reparations: direct payments from the federal government for losses Salt Lake City, Utah, to outline a policy seeking compensation. After the war,įormer Japanese-American inmates from seven WRA internment camps met in 146Īddressing the far larger injustice of uprooting and incarcerating an entireĮthnic group, however, remained an unresolved issue for decades. Previous law that restored seniority benefits to nisei postal workers. Miller of California, the bill expanded a Restored seniority benefits to all nisei federal employees who had been evacuated. In 1952 Congress tackled another lingering injustice from the war when it Miller introduced legislation that restored benefits to nisei federal employees who had been evacuated during World War II. House of RepresentativesĪbout this object In 1952 California Representative George P. tiles/non-collection/A/APA_essay2_49_GMiller_HC.xml Collection of the U.S. Voted to unfreeze their money and set aside as much as $10 million in refunds.īut because the Office of Alien Property Custodian offered low exchange ratesĪnd erected additional hurdles, less than half of the 7,500 Japanese-Americanĭepositors redeemed their certificates. In 1945,įour years after the federal government seized the banks, financial records, andĪssets of Japanese Americans using the Trading with the Enemy Act, Congress Slowly and incrementally, wartime restrictions also were rolled back. Of deportation, had regained their citizenship. Those looking to return from Japan and those in the United States under threat By 1959, all renunciants who had applied, both Someīlamed the military and the WRA, but the greatest pressure to renounce cameįrom other militant detainees. Wayne Collins, a civil liberties lawyer, defended many nisei,Īrguing that they had given up their citizenship under duress or coercion. By the end of the war, however, virtually all renunciants andĭeportees fought to have their citizenship restored despite opposition from the 143 More than 1,300 of these “Native American Aliens” Roughly 5,500 nisei who had either failed the loyalty questionnaire or who The WRA turned Tule Lake into a high-security segregation center to hold the It became law in July 1944 as an amendment to the NationalityĮven as Japanese-American detainees were being released from other camps, “disloyal” prisoners who voluntarily gave up their citizenship before deporting At the time, no such mechanism existed.īut the proposed measure allowed the government to retain control over 141 Working with Congress, the Justiceĭepartment crafted a first-of-its-kind policy enabling native-born Americans In order to renounce one’s citizenship, the federal government looked for a Nisei could return to Japan to care for them. citizens) back to Japan after the war and, by giving up their citizenship, the Immigrant parents (who, by federal law, had been prevented from becoming Some did so out of protest, but others feared the government would deport their Nisei men held in the more repressive camps renounced their U.S. Though not in the form of monetary reparations. The first stirrings of ameliorative action began even as the war drew to a close, tiles/non-collection/A/APA_essay2_48_JapaneseAmericansSF_NARA.xml Image courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration Japanese Americans line up outside a Civil Control station in San Francisco in 1942 to await processing and evacuation. Shadow over the APA experience for decades afterward. To codify the nikkei evacuation and internment into law cast a long and dark The trappings of everyday life-were abandoned. Homes, automobiles, furniture, land, clothes, utensils-all World War II, thousands of Japanese-American families had little time toĪrrange their affairs and pack the few things permitted them in the camps. When the Roosevelt administration began its internment policy during A sign in the window promises that the restaurant will soon open under new management. tiles/non-collection/A/APA_essay2_47_NiseiGrill_NARA.xml Image courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration This San Francisco restaurant closed after the federal government mandated the evacuation of Japanese-American citizens during World War II.
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