Executive Order 9066 and the Persecution of Japanese Immigrants in Latin America

In February 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, authorizing the internment of more than 120,000 people living in the Pacific Coast states in10 internment camps. The order came just two months after the U.S. declared war on Japan.
Of those interned in the camps, 40,000 were Japanese citizens who had settled in California, Oregon, and Washington since the late 19th century and largely worked as fishermen, farmers, laborers, or storekeepers. By the time they were sent to the camps, most had already formed families and communities that were completely integrated into the U.S. economy ...