Executive Order 9066

Executive Order 9066
US Gov · Public domain · source
Name	Executive Order 9066
Caption	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Issued	February 19, 1942
Signed by	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Location signed	Washington, D.C.
Purpose	Wartime exclusion and relocation of designated populations

Executive Order 9066

President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the order on February 19, 1942, authorizing Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and commanders such as General John L. DeWitt to establish military areas from which persons could be excluded. The order followed the Attack on Pearl Harbor, mobilization efforts including War Department directives, and pressures from figures including Senator Hiram Johnson, Representative John Rankin, and organizations such as the California State Chamber of Commerce and the Western Defense Command.

Background and issuance

Concerns after the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway intensified anti-Japanese sentiment among political actors like Senator Burton K. Wheeler, bureaucrats in the War Department, and officials in the Office of Naval Intelligence. Advisory inputs came from committees including the Attorney General's Committee on National Security and reports like the Rabb Report; stakeholders included the Japanese American Citizens League, labor leaders such as A. Philip Randolph, and West Coast governors like Earl Warren. High-profile incidents such as the Niihau Incident and statements by media figures in outlets like the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times influenced policymakers including Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, culminating in the presidential directive that empowered commanders such as General DeWitt of the Western Defense Command.

Implementation and enforcement

Implementation involved orders from the War Department and directives issued by military districts under commanders such as General DeWitt and overseen by officials like Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt. Enforcement actions coordinated with agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation under J. Edgar Hoover, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and local law enforcement in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Honolulu. Civil liberties organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union and legal advocates such as Wayne M. Collins and Philip A. Bartell challenged implementation plans while the War Relocation Authority managed mass removal logistics in concert with transportation firms and labor entities. Military orders such as Civilian Exclusion Orders and curfew regulations were enforced under martial administration in military zones supervised by the Western Defense Command.

Internment camps and conditions

Relocation resulted in incarceration in facilities administered by the War Relocation Authority and other agencies at sites including Manzanar War Relocation Center, Tule Lake Segregation Center, Gila River, Poston, Topaz (Central Utah)],], Granada (Camp Amache), Heart Mountain, and Minidoka. Many detainees lived in barracks modeled after military huts and military construction projects, with oversight by administrators such as Milton Eisenhower and local staff recruited from organizations including the Red Cross and Salvation Army. Conditions varied across sites and were reported by journalists from outlets like the New York Times and reformers including Earl Warren (as California Attorney General earlier), while studies by academics at institutions like University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, and Harvard University documented health, sanitation, and educational conditions. Detainees included notable figures like George Takei and activists such as Fred Korematsu (later associated with legal challenges), artists like Chiura Obata, and writers like John Okada who later chronicled camp life.

Legal challenges and Supreme Court decisions

Several test cases reached federal courts and the Supreme Court of the United States, including litigation involving petitioners such as Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi, and Minoru Yasui. In decisions like the rulings in Korematsu v. United States, Hirabayashi v. United States, and Yasui v. United States, the Court addressed constitutionality under the Fifth Amendment and wartime powers asserted by the Executive Office of the President and the War Department. Other litigants included the American Civil Liberties Union and attorneys such as Wayne M. Collins and James Purcell. Subsequent developments involved coram nobis filings, the reopening of convictions in the 1980s with lawyers like Peter Irons and investigative work by researchers at institutions such as the Japanese American National Museum.

Impact on Japanese Americans and other affected groups

The order affected approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, including citizens and residents, in states such as California, Oregon, and Washington; it also affected communities in Alaska and territories like Hawaii differently. Other groups targeted or influenced by exclusionary policies included persons of German American and Italian American origin, Filipinos, Aleuts from the Aleutian Islands, and other minorities whose rights were constrained by wartime measures involving the Department of Justice and military authorities. Economic impacts touched property owners, business operators, farmers in regions like the Salinas Valley and Central Valley (California), and professionals who lost livelihood; cultural consequences were recorded by community groups including the Japanese American Citizens League and religious institutions such as local Buddhist Temples and Christian churches.

Redress, apology, and reparations

Decades after World War II, redress efforts coordinated by advocacy groups like the Japanese American Citizens League, legal scholars such as Peter Irons, and politicians including Representative Robert Matsui led to legislative action. The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians issued the report titled Family Name: Personal Justice Denied, prompting passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 signed by President Ronald Reagan, which provided apologies and reparations administered through the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund and overseen by agencies including the Department of Justice for legal matters and the Federal Register for implementation notices. Survivors received payments and formal apologies; cultural memory institutions such as the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles and the Manzanar National Historic Site preserve records and personal testimonies.

Historical debate and legacy

Historians at institutions including Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Yale University, and Harvard University continue debates about executive power, racial prejudice, and national security as reflected in scholarship by authors like Roger Daniels, Eric Foner, Michi Weglyn, and Peter Irons. Public history projects at the National Archives and memorials like the Manzanar National Historic Site and the Japanese American National Museum foster education; legal scholarship connects the wartime jurisprudence to later cases involving civil rights and executive authority, invoking precedents such as Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer and wartime controversies including the Korematsu v. United States decision's later repudiation in public discourse. The order’s legacy informs contemporary discussions among policymakers, scholars, and activists in contexts like immigration policy, national security law, and civil liberties advocacy involving institutions such as the American Civil Liberties Union and scholarly centers across universities.

Category:United States executive orders