Executive Order 9006

Executive Order 9006
Name	Executive Order 9006
Signed	February 19, 1942
Signedby	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Effective	February 19, 1942
Repealed	1976 (partial rescindments and later redress)
Related	World War II, Japanese American internment, War Relocation Authority

Executive Order 9006 President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the order on February 19, 1942, authorizing exclusion zones and the relocation of persons from designated areas following the Attack on Pearl Harbor and entry of the United States into World War II. The order empowered the Secretary of War and military commanders to designate military areas and remove persons from them, precipitating the mass removal and incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast of the United States during the 1940s. Its issuance intersected with decisions by the United States Supreme Court, actions by the War Department, and campaigns by civil rights advocates such as A. Philip Randolph and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union.

Background and Context

Military and political leaders reacted to the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, and concerns about sabotage, espionage, and Fifth Column activity, prompting measures by the War Department and directives from the Roosevelt administration. Tensions escalated amid press coverage in outlets like the Los Angeles Times and statements by figures including General John L. DeWitt, whose remarks influenced policy toward residents of California, Oregon, Washington (state), and Arizona. Preceding legal frameworks included the Alien Registration Act and earlier executive holdings; contemporaneous actors included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the War Relocation Authority, and state governors such as Culbert L. Olson and Earl Warren.

Provisions of Executive Order 9006

The order authorized the Secretary of War to prescribe military areas from which any or all persons could be excluded and provided authority to remove and detain persons for military reasons. It did not itself use the word "Japanese" but was applied to persons of Japanese descent, both Nisei and Issei, and affected Japanese nationals and American citizens alike. The statutory basis intersected with wartime statutes and administrative orders implemented by the War Relocation Authority and the Department of Justice that led to exclusion orders, assembly centers, and more permanent camps such as Manzanar, Tule Lake, and Gila River Indian Reservation sites.

Implementation and Administration

Implementation involved the Fourth Army, Western Defense Command, and officers like Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt, who coordinated exclusion orders and curfew enforcement with the FBI and local law enforcement in metropolitan areas including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon. The War Relocation Authority, established under Executive Order 9102, administered relocation centers and managed logistics for transportation, housing, and labor assignments. Private contractors, railroad companies such as the Southern Pacific Railroad and Santa Fe Railway, and state agencies participated in moving internees to assembly centers often located at fairgrounds and military installations like Fort Mason and Santa Anita Park.

Impact on Japanese American Communities

The order precipitated the forcible removal of approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, disrupting families, farms, businesses, and institutions such as churches, schools, and newspapers like the Rafu Shimpo. Communities in Honolulu and on the Hawaii islands experienced different treatment due to strategic considerations and advocacy by local leaders including Senator Daniel Inouye in later years. Economic losses, dispossession of property, and social stigma affected landowners, fishermen, gardeners, and professionals; organizations such as the Japanese American Citizens League sought to assist internees, while resistance figures like Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi, and Minoru Yasui emerged from affected communities and challenged exclusion policies.

Legal Challenges and Political Responses

Civil liberties groups and individuals mounted legal challenges culminating in landmark United States Supreme Court cases: Korematsu v. United States, Hirabayashi v. United States, and Ex parte Endo, which addressed constitutionality, curfew orders, and detention. Political debate involved members of Congress such as Senator Robert A. Taft and Representative Samuel Dickstein, and executive branch officials including Francis Biddle. Press scrutiny, public opinion, and advocacy by figures like Earl Warren (then Attorney General of California, later Governor of California and Chief Justice of the United States) shaped responses, while later congressional hearings and commissions revisited wartime decisions.

Restatement and Repeal

Over subsequent decades, administrative actions and legal developments narrowed and rescinded exclusionary policies; the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 provided redress, apologies, and reparations following findings by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. Presidential proclamations, including by President Gerald Ford and President Ronald Reagan, acknowledged past actions; formal rescission and review unfolded alongside court decisions such as modern reconsiderations of wartime jurisprudence. Legislative measures and executive statements gradually dismantled the authority exercised under wartime orders and paved the way for reparations, apologies, and historic preservation efforts.

Historical Legacy and Commemoration

The legacy of the order persists through museums, memorials, educational programs, and cultural works that document the experience, including the Manzanar National Historic Site, the Japanese American National Museum, and literature by authors like Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and John Okada. Annual observances, oral histories collected by institutions such as the Densho Project and inked narratives in archives at the National Archives and Records Administration inform public memory alongside films and plays staged at venues such as the Mark Taper Forum and academic work at institutions like University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University. The order remains a focal point in discussions of civil liberties, constitutional law, and ethnic studies taught in programs at universities including Columbia University, Harvard University, and University of Chicago.

Category:United States executive orders Category:Japanese American internment