Asian American lawmakers in California say it may be seven decades later, but they’re still applauding an effort to have the state apologize for its role in the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) responded to the state’s bill HR-77, in which California would formally apologize for “its failure to support and defend the civil rights and civil liberties of Japanese Americans.” The bill is expected to be approved by the state Assembly on Thursday.
While the apology comes more than 70 years after the incarceration camps closed, state Rep. Mark Takano, a Democrat and CAPAC member, told NBC News that he believes it’s still significant for the state to recognize its own part in the WWII-era mass removal.
“For the California Legislature to approve a resolution to formally apologize for the role the state played in the unjust internment of innocent Americans is long overdue, but important, nonetheless,” Takano, whose own family was imprisoned during WWII, said. “We must reckon with our past and cannot forget about what happens when political leaders allow discrimination to dictate policy.”
The legislation, introduced by state Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, a Democrat, points out that California agencies and officials had failed, on a number of occasions, to defend Japanese Americans. It noted that the assembly had approved questioning the loyalty of Japanese Americans with dual citizenship at that time. The State Personnel Board also fired those of Japanese descent who worked for the state government by the spring of 1942, including Mitsuye Endo, who filed a lawsuit against California and was in turn removed and incarcerated while her case was pending.
The bill also acknowledges the anti-Japanese measures that were taken decades before the war: a prelude to forced removal and incarceration of over 110,000 people based solely on race. In 1913, California, as well as many other Western states, passed the Alien Land Law, which barred immigrants who were ineligible for citizenship from owning land. It also prohibited immigrants who were ineligible for citizenship from possessing long-term leases. The legislation had attempted to keep Japanese immigrants from remaining in the area or coming out west altogether.
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Rep. Judy Chu, chair of CAPAC, underscored the importance of recognizing that “the prejudices against Japanese Americans did not start with the internment.” She said there are parallels between the course of events then and several Trump administration policies today.
“It was years in the making,” Chu, D-Calif., said of Japanese American incarceration. “The reason it's important right now is because we have the rise of prejudice against immigrants and against ethnic minorities in this country. Trump's supporters have, in fact, cited the legal example of Japanese internment as justification for his expansion of the Muslim ban.”
Carl Higbie, a retired Navy SEAL who had been a Trump surrogate during the 2016 presidential campaign, had touted Japanese American incarceration during World War II as a “precedent” for a Muslim registry.
Chu pointed out that today, the Trump administration has not only restricted travel from several Muslim-majority countries, but also expanded the initial ban, adding an additional six countries this year -- Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania -- to the seven nations that were part of the initial 2017 policy.
Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., added that the detainment of migrant children at the border serves as another parallel to the discrimination experienced by Japanese Americans. Government data from November shows that a record number of 69,550 migrant children were held in U.S. custody over the past year. The legislator said she had traveled to the border to witness the detention centers himself.
“Children sitting listlessly on the cold cement floor; mothers wondering if they’d ever see their children. These memories are forever seared in my mind,” she said. “We are better than this, and we must reject the administration’s immigration tactics. We have been and always will be a nation of immigrants. The Trump administration cannot erase this fact.”
Going forward, advocacy groups, including Densho, a nonprofit that preserves Japanese American history, are pushing that more states, or “even organizations and institutions that were complicit in the WWII incarceration, take steps to address that past harm.” But Nina Wallace, the organization’s communications coordinator, said the apology should be backed up by proactive measures to keep similar incidents from occurring.
“In California, this resolution is building off of actions that state has already taken to try to block ICE expansion and protect immigrant communities,” she said. “I think that's a positive example of both apology and action.”
Takano concluded that he is grateful to his home state for “taking this important step and issuing this apology.”
“The Japanese American community endured pain and suffering as they had their civil liberties violated for no reason other than their Japanese heritage, and families like mine still bear the scars from the suffering they underwent during Japanese American internment,” he said.
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