The United States Congress and the Japanese ‘Problem’: Racial Prejudice and the Call for the Exclusion and Internment of Japanese Americans

Cseh, Dániel (2019) The United States Congress and the Japanese ‘Problem’: Racial Prejudice and the Call for the Exclusion and Internment of Japanese Americans. Pro&Contra, 3. (2.). pp. 5-25. ISSN 2630-8916

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Abstract

In the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, with the spread of Fifth Column hysteria, persons of Japanese ancestry – both aliens and American citizens – were scapegoated for the unprovoked attack perpetrated by the Empire of Japan and thus faced increased racial prejudice. Japanese Americans were designated as the ‘enemy within’, based on their racial affinity, and were subjected to forced mass exclusion and incarceration in accordance with Executive Order No. 9066 issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. The present paper introduces the wartime contribution of the United States Congress, the debate over the Japanese ‘problem’ and the push by the West Coast delegates for the collective removal of the Japanese community from the Pacific Coast during the early months of the war. On March 21, 1942, President Roosevelt signed into law Public Law No. 503, intended by Congress to facilitate the ability of the Executive to wage war successfully. The Act of March 21 provided the required enforcement machinery requested by the designated Military Commander citing military necessity, making the violation of military orders a federal crime, thereby approving the actions taken under Executive Order No. 9066.

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