From: Everette (194cbteng@bellsouth.net)
Date: Sat Jan 14 2006 - 06:11:23 PST
January 14
1942 Roosevelt ushers in Japanese-American internment
On this day in 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Presidential
Proclamation No. 2537, requiring aliens from World War II-enemy
countries--Italy, Germany and Japan--to register with the United States
Department of Justice. Registered persons were then issued a "Certificate of
Identification for Aliens of Enemy Nationality." A follow-up to the Alien
Registration Act of 1940, Proclamation No. 2537 facilitated the beginning of
full-scale internment of Japanese Americans the following month.
A 1941 federal report requested by Roosevelt indicated that more than 90
percent of Japanese Americans were considered loyal citizens. Nevertheless,
under increasing pressure from agricultural associations, military advisors
and influential California politicians, Roosevelt agreed to begin the
necessary steps for possible internment of the Japanese-American population.
Ostensibly issued in the interest of national security, Proclamation No.
2537 permitted the "arrest, detention and internment" of enemy aliens who
violated restricted areas, such as ports, water treatment plants or even
areas prone to brush fires, "for the duration of the war." A month later, a
reluctant but resigned Roosevelt signed the War Department's blanket
Executive Order 9066, which authorized the physical removal of all Japanese
Americans into internment camps.
Everette
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