When the Chinese Exclusion Act banned Chinese immigrants, Americans were hoping it would create jobs for them. Ironically, it created demands for new immigrant labor, and those laborers were Japanese (Columbia River Basin Ethnic History Project). Ever since they came to the United States, they had to overcome racial discrimination against them.

The Japanese had a perceived success in farming and business, which contributed to a widespread belief that Japanese immigration posted a threat to white Americans. As anti-Japanese sentiments grew, white Americans formed organizations to pressure state and local governments to restrict the area where Japanese could live, work, and go to school. These organizations also pressured the federal govern to place new limits on Japanese immigration to America.  In 1907 and 1908, the United States and Japanese governments worked together, through an unofficial arrangement called the “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” to end mass Japanese immigration to the United States.  Under the Gentlemen’s Agreement, the United States promised to pressure states to withdraw discriminatory laws. In return, Japan agreed to restrict further immigration to the United States. Around the same time, Immigration Act of 1907 was passed. It banned any further immigration of contract laborers from Japan  and banned Japanese from entering the United States through Canada, Mexico, or Hawaii (“Japanese Immigration to the United States”).

Japanese Exclusion Act

On December 7, 1941, the Japan launched a surprise bombing on Pearl Harbor. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war against the United States, and the U.S. government responded the same (History.com Staff).

In response to the mounting pressure for action, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. This order lead “to the evacuation and internment into what were called ‘relocation camps’ of all West Coast Japanese residents and Japanese-American citizens, some 70,000 native-born citizens of Japanese ancestry, for what was called military necessity” (“World War II and the Forced Relocation of Japanese Americans”). The last internment camp would not be closed until 1946.

The act was based on the widely held belief that “the evil deeds of Hitler’s Germany were the deeds of bad men, [whereas] the evil deeds of Tojo and Hirohito’s Japan were the deeds of a bad race” (Daniels 2004, 396 from “World War II and the Forced Relocation of Japanese Americans”).

Effects of the Japanese Exclusion Act

-Aproximately 120,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry were evicted from their homes. Almost 70,000 of them were American citizens.
-Entire communities were uprooted.
-Families left behind homes, businesses, pets, land, and most of their belongings. They could only take what they could carry.
– The internment camps were nothing more than makeshift barracks. Families were cramped together behind barbed wires (Quereshi, Bilal).
-no Japanese American citizen or Japanese national was ever found guilty of sabotage or espionage (“Relocation and Incarceration of Japanese-Americans During World War II”)

In December 1944, President Roosevelt revoked Executive Order 9066 and the six-month process of resettling internees and shutting down camps began. The internees had to rebuild their lives. However, citizens and long-time residents had lost their personal liberties, and most lost their homes, businesses, property, and savings. Individuals born in Japan were not allowed to become naturalized US citizens until 1952 (“Relocation and Incarceration of Japanese-Americans During World War II”)

There would be compensation of $20,000 for each survivor, but it would not be approved for 44 years (“World War II and the Forced Relocation of Japanese Americans”). In 1988, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act to compensate more than 100,000 people of the descendants of the people who were incarcerated in internment camps during World War II (Qureshi, Bilal). It was a formal apology for the internment camps.