Over the duration of World War II, over 120,000 Japanese Americans were taken from their homes and forced to abandon their lives as an attempt to prevent espionage (Berger). There was often no evidence suggesting the accused were guilty of any crime -- except for being Japanese. These victims were sent to remote camps away from the rest of society and held there, against their will, until the end of the war. The internment of Japanese-Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor was unnecessary for the protection of the United States and cruel towards those imprisoned. Most importantly, internment was in violation of the United States Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights. From Pearl Harbor onward, the United States begin rounding up Japanese and arresting their prominent community leaders. These first arrests included Japanese teachers, lawyers, priests, and business owners (“A …show more content…
He urged the government to outline small regions where people of Japanese heritage were not allowed to live. These areas included important military factories and anywhere else the “dangerous” Japanese race could attack. However, a month later, General DeWitt called to expand the prohibited areas to entire cities such as Portland, Seattle, and Tacoma, a concept that would later evolve into full relocation. When the proposition was brought to the Senate and the House they voted not to act on it, but when the bill landed on President Roosevelt’s desk, he was convinced that relocation was necessary and used his power to override both branches (“A Brief”). On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that authorized the internment of thousands of Japanese (Berger). This document was the first step in striping Japanese Americans of their