Why were internment camps created?
Spies
The biggest reason behind, and justification for, the creation of internment camps was fear of espionage (spying).
Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, there was wide speculation of Japanese spies living in the United States. Lt. General DeWitt was charged with going to the west coast and investigating the reports of spy activity. After investigating, he reported that there was spy activity that needed to be addressed (DeWitt, 1942). In a later report General DeWitt stated,
Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, there was wide speculation of Japanese spies living in the United States. Lt. General DeWitt was charged with going to the west coast and investigating the reports of spy activity. After investigating, he reported that there was spy activity that needed to be addressed (DeWitt, 1942). In a later report General DeWitt stated,
“On February 14, 1942, I recommended to the War Department that the military security of the Pacific Coast required the establishment of broad civil control, anti-sabotage and counter-espionage measures, including the evacuation, therefrom of all persons of Japanese ancestry. In recognition of this situation, the President issued Executive Order No. 9066 on February 19, 1942, authorizing the accomplishment of these and any other necessary security measures" (DeWitt, 1942).
General DeWitt was not the only person who found evidence of spy activity. In his report, DeWitt mentioned the findings of the Commanding General. He reported,
“The Commanding General, during the closing weeks of December, requested that the War Department induce the Department of Justice to take vigorous action along the Pacific Coast. His conclusion was in part based upon interception of unauthorized radio communications which had been identified as emanating from certain areas along the coast. Of further concern to him was the fact that for a period of several weeks following December 7th, substantially every ship leaving a West Coast port was attacked by an enemy submarine. This seemed conclusively to point to the existence of hostile ship-to-shore communication”(DeWitt, 1942).
Upon hearing this, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson wrote to Attorney General Francis Biddle on January 25, 1942 and stated, "General DeWitt’s apprehensions have been confirmed by recent visits of military observers from the War Department to the Pacific coast. The alarming and dangerous situation just described, in my opinion, calls for immediate and stringent action" (Stimson Statements, 1942).
The spy threat may have been real but how many Japanese people living in America, whether they were citizens or not, were actually spies? There were probably very few Japanese people living on the coast that were engaging in espionage. Sending people to internment camps took away civil rights from thousands of innocent people in an attempt to stop a few who were working against the United States. How was this fair? It was not fair or just in the slightest.
However, It would have taken too much time and resources to figure out which specific people were the spies and the government was convinced that not immediately addressing the threat of spies would continue to endanger the lives of military personnel and the American people (DeWitt, 1942). Therefore, the government adopted a policy which would take care of all people who could potentially be spies. In the process, they transported hundreds of thousands of innocent and loyal people to internment camps.
The spy threat may have been real but how many Japanese people living in America, whether they were citizens or not, were actually spies? There were probably very few Japanese people living on the coast that were engaging in espionage. Sending people to internment camps took away civil rights from thousands of innocent people in an attempt to stop a few who were working against the United States. How was this fair? It was not fair or just in the slightest.
However, It would have taken too much time and resources to figure out which specific people were the spies and the government was convinced that not immediately addressing the threat of spies would continue to endanger the lives of military personnel and the American people (DeWitt, 1942). Therefore, the government adopted a policy which would take care of all people who could potentially be spies. In the process, they transported hundreds of thousands of innocent and loyal people to internment camps.
"To prevent any fifth column activity [spying]…all Japanese, whether citizens or not, be placed in inland [internment] camps. As justification for this, I submit that if an American born Japanese, who is a citizen, is really patriotic and wishes to make his contribution to the safety and welfare of this country, right here is the opportunity to do so, namely, that by permitting himself to be placed in a [internment] camp, he would be making his sacrifice, and he should be willing to do it if he is patriotic and working for us" (Ford Statements, 1942).
Public fear
Another reason that allowed for the internment camps was that the American people themselves wanted the Japanese removed from their cities. The public feared and hated the Japanese people, thinking that all of them were spies (Weber, 2010). Due to this, there was no outcry against the internment camps and it took little justification to convince most of the people that they were necessary. Lt. General John DeWitt reported that,
"There’s a tremendous volume of public opinion now developing against the Japanese of all classes, that is aliens and nonaliens, to get them off the land, and in Southern California around Los Angeles—in that area too—they want and they are bringing pressure on the government to move all the Japanese out. As a matter of fact, it’s not being instigated or developed by people who are not thinking but by the best people of California. Since the publication of the Roberts Report they feel that they are living in the midst of a lot of enemies. They don’t trust the Japanese, none of them" (Transcript, 1942).