On February 19th 1942, Roosevelt signed the executive order 9066. Under the terms of the order, people of Japanese descent were placed in internment camps. The United States' justification for this abominable action was that the Japanese American's may spy for their Homeland. Over 62% of the Japanese that were held in these camps were American Citizens. TheUnited States' internment of the Japanese was a poor and cowardly method of 'keeping the peace.' The United States was not justified in stowing away Japanese Americans into almost concentration camps. This act goes against the basic Bill Of Rights granted to all American citizens, the Fifth Amendment's command that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due...show more content...
Of course, the American public was also feeling great resentment towards the Japanese–Americans during this particular time period. Congress merely intensified these feelings of hatred by passing laws such as the executive order 9066. The Fifth Amendment's command states that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. During the Japanese– American internment, the Japanese–American's were forced from their homes and made to go into makeshift concentration camps. This is a deprivation of life, through forcing the Japanese to give up their normal routine lives for 'national security.' It is a deprivation of liberty because the Japanese were confined in a set space and not allowed to venture past the area. The Japanese property was also seized and confiscated which is another direct violation of the fifth commandment. The government continued to break many of its own laws in the process of 'justice.' But is this justice really moral?
Under Article 1, section 9 of the constitution 'the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.' Habeas Corpus is the name of a legal action, or writ, through which a person can seek relief from unlawful detention of themselves or another person. Although many people may state that the bombing of Pearl
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The decision to imprison Japanese Americans was a popular one in 1942. It was supported not only by the government, but it was also called for by the press and the people. In the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, Japan was the enemy. Many Americans believed that people of Japanese Ancestry were potential spies and saboteurs, intent on helping their mother country to win World War II. "The Japanese race is an enemy race," General John DeWitt, head of the Western Defense Command wrote in February 1942. "And while many second and third generation Japanese born in the United States soil, possessed of United States citizenship, have become 'Americanized,' the racial strains are...show more content... Military Area 1 covered the western portion of Washington, Oregon, California, and the southern half of Arizona. Military Area 2 consisted of portions of all those states that were not in Area 1. In these areas, all enemy aliens included Japanese, German, and Italian aliens as well as American citizens of Japanese decent. The government moved to take full control of an evacuation and relocation program. The Wartime Civil Control Authority (WCCA) was created as a part of the Western Defense Command to oversee the evacuation and relocation program. From the very beginning, the evacuation and relation program was orchestrated by the military to justify their need for national security. Although all enemy aliens were said to be suspect, it was the Japanese, both alien and citizen, who were singled out for removal (Ng, 2002: 21–22).
Among the Japanese American community, DeWitt's announcement was met with disbelief. The orders were seen as a betrayal and a violation of rights, particularly by the Nisei, second generation Japanese Americans. They had been model citizens and had given the government no reason to believe that they would take part in sabotage or undercover activities, the injustice of the situation infuriating. Saburo Kido, the president of the JACL, stated, "Never in the thousands of years of human history has a group of citizens been branded on so wholesale a scale as being treacherous to the land in which they live. We question the