SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California has apologized for its role in the internment of tens of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II, 78 years after President Franklin D. Roosevelt's executive order.
Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 in 1942, forcing the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans, most of which were in California. On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a day of remembrance for the Japanese American internment.
The policy required American's of Japanese descent to leave their homes and much of their property behind to move to one of 10 concentration camps in the West and Arkansas. Thousands were given just days' notice to leave their homes, businesses, farms, careers and school to move to concentration camps.
Many of those evacuated were American citizens forced to leave without a trial or due process. The policy held for two and a half years until the war ended in 1945.
Kiyo Sato, 96, remembers the day she and her family were forced to leave their 20-acre farm near Sacramento. Sato's mother and father were both Japanese immigrants and parents to eight children.
"We were given 10 days to get out," Sato said. "That we could take only what we could carry."
On Feb. 20, several Japanese internment camp survivors stood on the California Assembly floor as lawmakers unanimously passed House Resolution 77. The resolution formally apologizes for the state's role during the war.
The resolution was brought forward by the state's only Japanese-American Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D–Torrence). Muratsuchi said the resolution was needed now more than ever given recent U.S. policies that target security screenings of Muslims and the detention of undocumented immigrants at the nation’s Southern border.
"We want to make sure that all Americans remember the history of Japanese-Americans during World War II, so that we don't repeat the same mistakes," Muratsuchi said.
While the new resolution has shown many a sign of hope for the future, Sato said it's too bad it didn't happen sooner.
"We needed to do this," Sato said. "We needed to do this."
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