A response to World War II at home:
West Coast evacuation of aliens and non-aliens
By Paul Kusuda

    My past three articles described how President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 affected one
Japanese family. I noted that not only aliens, but also non-aliens (aka U.S. citizens), were forcibly moved to
relocation centers with no trial or evaluation of threat to our country. Most of us were U.S. citizens, although many
were too young to vote in national elections.
   For most, the experience was unpleasant. However, what happened to those sent to desolate relocation centers
was not even comparable to what happened  to Jews and others in Europe solely for religious or other bases, or to
armed forces personnel and civilians who suffered horribly under the Japanese. For that reason, I am among those
who do not refer to relocation centers as concentration camps. The living conditions and treatment were so
markedly different.
   The evacuees or camp residents (I do not use the term “internees”) were not, to my knowledge, mistreated by the
War Relocation Authority staff. Initially, of course, camp administrators made some mistakes or misjudgments
because of lack of knowledge or experience. To enable objective evaluation of conditions and treatment, the camp
to which our family was sent was visited, within a couple of months, by the Red Cross, as well as by a representative
of the Consulate General of Spain.  Accompanying the representative was Mr. Bayard Rustin, a well-known African
American civil rights activist. They not only inspected the facilities; they also talked with residents.
   In retrospect, after many years of working in a state bureaucracy and dealing with a variety of administrative
issues, some of emergency nature, I can look at the evacuation process from a different perspective. It’s not the
same as that of a person who had to go through the unpleasant experience.
   The War Relocation Authority had to get into full operation soon after Executive Order 9066 was promulgated.
Milton Eisenhower (Ike’s brother) was selected by the President to head up the War Relocation Authority. What a
horrendous job that must have been since the entire operation was militarily-based and had to be initiated in a very
short time.
   Executive Order 9066 went into effect February 19, 1942. On March 24, 1942, Lt. Gen. John DeWitt (in charge of
the Western Defense Command) issued the first of a series of military exclusion orders for persons of Japanese
ancestry who lived in the western halves of California, Oregon, Washington, and the southern third of Arizona. The
rationale (not truly rational) was one of military security, since officials were fearful of sabotage on the West Coast
where the U.S. had many defense industries. Actually, race prejudice and misinformation played a large part, and
no act of treason was committed by a person of Japanese ancestry.
   Decisions had to be made in a hurry, as 120,000 persons had to be evacuated. Further, something had to be
done immediately with Japanese, Italians and Germans who were potential threats to the U.S. since we were at war,
not only with Japan, but also with Italy and Germany. The Federal Bureau of Investigation sent its agents out to pick
up potential saboteurs and suspicious characters. Those caught in the round-up were initially sent to local lock-ups
and later transported to internment centers for interrogation and indefinite incarceration. Then FBI Director J. Edgar
Hoover felt assured that all potentially dangerous individuals were apprehended in the nationwide sweep. I’ve been
told that he was not convinced that persons of Japanese ancestry needed to be treated any differently from the other
two groups; they did not need to be evicted from the West Coast.
   Imagine the planning efforts required to rapidly evacuate 120,000 men, women, children and infants. Immediate
decisions had to be made as to housing, food, clothing, medical and related supplies, public health, etc. A
temporary federal agency was set up, the Wartime Civilian Control Administration, which eventually led to the
establishment, within a few months, of the more permanent War Relocation Authority.
   Evacuation was initiated quickly following General DeWitt’s military exclusion orders. Congregate housing
facilities secured with armed guards, were not available, so county fairgrounds and horse race tracks (namely, Santa
Anita and Tanforan) were put into service by the Wartime Civilian Control Administration. At each track, horse stalls
were hastily cleaned and renamed “apartments.” The smell from the former occupants was always present. At
fairgrounds, housing facilities could barely be considered livable.
   The political side of the dilemma had to be covered simultaneously because as a nation based on considerations
of legislation, administration, and juridical interpretation of laws, actions had to be reported to and supported by the
populace at large. Thus, the three columns of government (legislative, administrative, and judicial) requires the
fourth — media reporting and interpretation. The fifth column has long been designated as consisting of those who
want to destroy the first three and, of course, the fourth. (Incidentally, these are my musings based on my
interpretation of the fourth estate.) Persons of Japanese ancestry were at the time suspected as comprising a fifth
column, thus requiring assessment of need for isolation.
   Congress hastily scheduled a series of hearings on the West Coast. The House of Representatives, 77th Congress,
passed HR 113, A Resolution to Inquire Further into the Interstate Migration of Citizens, Emphasizing the Present
and Potential Consequences of the Migration Caused by the National Defense Program.” The Select Committee
Investigating National Defense Migration held hearings in San Francisco (February 21 and 22, 1942), Portland
(February 26 and 28, and March 2, 1942), and Los Angeles and San Francisco (March 6, 7, and 12, 1942). I
attended part of the hearing in Los Angeles. Only invited persons were allowed to speak and respond to questions by
the Committee members.
   On March 6,  Calif. Gov. Culbert L. Olson responded to a question about   “… making a distinction between the
Italian and the German aliens on the one hand and the Japanese, whether citizen or alien, on the other  hand.” He
said, “ … I believe that the FBI would have more difficulty ascertaining who was a saboteur or fifth columnist among
the Japanese population than they would among the Italian or German … We want to make certain that those who
may have some fifth columnist ideas are segregated, and if, in the process of segregating, there is some
inconvenience to those who are loyal, I think those inconveniences should be suffered until they are straightened
out.” In an earlier part of his testimony, he said, “The loyal Japanese people realize that the average Caucasian can’
t distinguish between the Japanese. They all look alike. It places them in a most unfortunate disadvantage.”
   Well, that provides some insight into the idea that the only security considerations were taken into account by
decision makers. As to the Japanese and Japanese Americans, they understood both security and identification
issues within the context of the times. They raised no major fuss about evacuation because to create a disturbance
would require the government to deploy the military from areas of greater need, and self-identified themselves, thus
eliminating confusion with other Asians who also “look alike.”
   And so, the evacuation of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry in 1942 was carried out humanely and efficiently.