US lawmakers seek recognition for Latin American Japanese interned in WWII camps News
US lawmakers seek recognition for Latin American Japanese interned in WWII camps

[JURIST] Two US Congressmen Monday pressed their case for legislation investigating the treatment of 2,300 Japanese descendants from 13 Latin American countries held in US internment camps during World War II. Bill sponsors Reps. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) and Dan Lungren (R-CA) [official websites] spoke out in a Washington Post editorial on the Day of Remembrance [advocacy website] marking the anniversary of the 1942 signing of Executive Order 9066 [text], which established the internment camps. The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent Act [HR 622 text] was introduced [press release] to the House of Representatives on January 25. If passed, the bill would create a 9-member commission to

investigate and determine facts and circumstances surrounding the relocation, internment, and deportation to Axis countries of Latin Americans of Japanese descent from December 1941 through February 1948, and the impact of those actions by the United States, and to recommend appropriate remedies.

Becerra and Lungren hope the Commission's report will lead to official recognition from the government.

In 1988, a report from the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians [Wikipedia backgrounder] led to the Civil Liberties Act [text], which officially apologized and paid restitution to interned Japanese-Americans in the United States. AFP has more.

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