Japanese Internment Camps

Pearl Harbor

Dec 7, 1941

Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese.

FBI Warnings

Dec 11, 1941

FBI warns against possession of cameras or guns by suspected "enemy" aliens

The Attorney General

Dec 27, 1941

Attorney General orders all suspected "enemy "aliens in West to surrender short wave radios and cameras

California

Dec 30, 1941

California revokes liquor license held by non-citizen Japanese.

Surrender Weapons

Jan 1, 1942

Attorney General freezes travel by all suspected "enemy " aliens, orders surrender of weapons.

Re-Registration

Jan 14, 1942

President Roosevelt orders re-registration of suspected "enemy" aliens in West.

Civil Service List

Jan 27, 1942

Los Angeles City and County discharges all Japanese on civil service lists.

Pacific Coast Strategic Areas

Jan 29, 1942

US Attorney General Francis Biddle issued the first of a series of orders establishing limited strategic areas along the Pacific Coast and requiring the removal of all suspected "enemy" aliens from these areas.

Prohibited Zones

Jan 31, 1942

Attorney General establishes 59 additional prohibited zones in California to be cleared by February 15.

Curfews

Feb 4, 1942

Attorney General establishes 59 additional prohibited zones in California to be cleared by February 15.

Removal of Japanese

Feb 14, 1942

Lt. General J. DeWitt, Commanding General of the Western Defense Command, sends a memorandum to the Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson recommending the removal of "Japanese and other subversive persons" from the West Coast area.

Executive Order 9066

Feb 19, 1942

President Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 9066, authorizing Secretary of War, or any military commander designated by Secretary to establish 'military areas' and exclude therefrom 'any or all persons'.

Proclamation NO.1

Mar 2, 1942

General DeWitt issues Proclamation No. I, designating the Western half of the three Pacific Coast states and the southern third of Arizona as military areas and stipulating that all persons of Japanese descent would eventually be removed.

Manzanar Temporary Detention Center

Mar 7, 1942

Army acquire Owens Valley Site for Manzanar temporary detention center.

Wartime Civil Control Administration

Mar 11, 1942

General DeWitt establishes the Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA), with Colonel Karl R. Bendetsen as Director to carry out the internment plan.
March 16 Wartime Civil Control Administration establishes military area in Idaho, Montana, Utah and Nevada, designate 934 prohibited zone to be cleared.

Executive Order 9102

Mar 18, 1942

President Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 9102 creating the War Relocation Authority to assist person evacuated by the military under Executive Order No. 9066. Milton S. Eisenhower was named Director.

Public Law 503

Mar 21, 1942

President Roosevelt signed Public Law 503 (77th Congress) making it a federal offense to violate any order issued by a designated military commander under authority of Executive Order No. 9066.

First to arrive at Manzanar

Mar 22, 1942

First large contingent of Japanese and Japanese Americans moved from Los Angeles to the Manzanar temporary detention center operated by the Army in the Owens Valley of California.

Exclusion Order No.1

Mar 23, 1942

General DeWitt issues Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1 ordering the evacuation of all people of Japanese descent from Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound and their removal by March 30, to the Puyallup Army temporary detention center near Seattle.

Proclamation No.4

Mar 27, 1942

General DeWitt issued Proclamation No.4 (effective March 29) forbidding further voluntary migration of Japanese and Japanese Americans from the West Coast military areas.

Incarceration of Los Angeles Japanese

Apr 3, 1942

First compulsory incarceration of Los Angeles Japanese to Santa Anita temporary detention center.

Seattle Internees

Apr 28, 1942

Seattle internees are sent to temporary detention center at Puyallup fairgrounds, called "Camp Harmony. "

Arizona Internees

May 8, 1942

The first contingent of internees arrives at the Colorado River Internment camp (Poston) near Parker, Arizona.

Western Defense Command

May 19, 1942

Western Defense Command issues Civilian Restriction Order No. 1 establishing all temporary detention centers in the eight far western states as military areas and forbidding residents to leave these areas without expressed approval of the Western Defense Command.

Korematsu v. United States

Jun 12, 1942

Korematsu was tried and convicted in federal court on September 8, 1942, for a violation of Public Law No. 503, which criminalized the violations of military orders issued under the authority of Executive Order 9066, and was placed on five years' probation. On December 18, 1944, in a 6-3 decision, authored by Justice Black, the Court held that compulsory exclusion, though constitutionally suspect, is justified during circumstances of "emergency and peril".

Closure of camps

Oct 15, 1945

In 1944, two and a half years after the signing of Executive Order 9066, fourth term President Franklin D. Roosevelt rescinded the order. The last interment camp closed by the end of 1945.

Lake Tule

Mar 20, 1946

The Tule Lake Segregation Center Closed

War Relocation

Jun 30, 1946

War Relocation Authority program officially terminates.

Evacuation Claims Act Passed

Jul 2, 1946

Evacuation Claims Act passed, giving internees until January 3.1950 to file claims against the government for damages to or loss of real or personal property consequence of the evacuation. Total of $31 million paid by the government for property lost by internees-- equaling less than 10 cents per dollar lost.

Crystal City Detention Center

Oct 30, 1946

Crystal City Detention Center, Texas operated by the Justice Department releases last Japanese (North. Central and South ) Americans. The closing of the Japanese American Internment Program.

Executive Order 9066 rescinded

Feb 19, 1976

President Gerald Ford formally rescinds Executive Order No. 9066.

CWRIC Report

Jun 23, 1983

Report of the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), entitled Personal Justice Denied, concludes that exclusion, expulsion and incarceration were not justified by military necessity, and the decisions to do so were based on race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.

Korematus update

Oct 4, 1983

In response to a petition for a writ of error coram nobis by Fred Korematsu, the Federal District Court of San Francisco reverses his 1942 conviction and rules that the internment was not justified.

Civil Liberties Act of 1988

Aug 10, 1988

The act granted each surviving internee about US $20,000 in compensation (or, $40,000 after inflation-adjustment in 2016 dollars), with payments beginning in 1990. The legislation stated that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership" as opposed to legitimate security reasons. A total of 82,219 received redress checks.

Public Law 101-162

Nov 2, 1989

President George Bush signed Public law 101-162 which guarantees fund for reparation payments to the WW II internment survivors beginning in October of 1990. For the Japanese American community. it marks a victorious end to a long struggle for justice. For the nation, the President signature reaffirms the country's commitment to equal justice under the law.