| 1940 |
|
Census finds 126,947 Japanese in the United States;
79,642 (62.7%) were native-born citizens. |
| 1941 |
December 7 |
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. |
|
|
Authorized by a blanket presidential warrant, United
States Attorney General Francis Biddle directs the Federal Bureau
of Investigation to arrest a predetermined number of "enemy aliens"
classified as "dangerous." |
|
December 8 |
United States declares war on Japan. |
|
December 29 |
All enemy aliens in California, Oregon Washington, Montana,
Idaho, Utah, and Nevada are ordered to surrender all "contraband."
(radios, cameras, binoculars, and weapons. |
| 1942 |
February 16 |
California Joint Immigration Committee urges that all
Japanese be removed from the Pacific Coast and any other areas designated
vital by the U.S. government. |
|
February 19 |
President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 giving
the secretary of war the authorization to establish military areas
"from which any or all persons may be excluded…" |
|
March 18 |
President Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9102 creating
the War Relocation Authority. |
|
April 7 |
WRA Director Milton Eisenhower meets with the governors
of ten states (including Wyoming) to ascertain the views of these
states on accepting Japanese evacuees. |
|
June 17 |
Milton Eisenhower resigns as WRA director. Dillon S.
Myer is appointed as his successor. |
|
August 7 |
General DeWitt announces that the evacuation of persons
of Japanese ancestry from Military areas is completed. |
|
August 18 |
Evacuees begin arriving at Heart Mountain. |
| 1943 |
January 28 |
The privilege of volunteering for military service is
restored to the Nisei. As a result over 2,500 men volunteer for military
service. |
| 1944 |
January 20 |
Secretary of War Stimson announces that Japanese Americans
are again eligible for the draft. |
|
October 16 |
Supreme Court met and decided that the WRA had no authority
to hold Japanese Americans against their will once they had been found
to be loyal to the United States. |
| 1945 |
January through October |
Evacuees returning home are faced with a number of hostile
attacks. These include countless attacks on the person and property
of newly released evacuees. |
|
November 10 |
Last train of evacuees leave Heart Mountain. |
| 1946 |
March 20 |
All relocation camps are now empty. |
|
June 30 |
The WRA officially goes out of business. |
| 1980 |
|
The 96th Congress enacts Public Law 96-317
establishing the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Interment of
Civilians. |
| 1988 |
August 10 |
President Reagan signed the Civil Rights Restoration
Act. A formal apology to Japanese and Japanese Americans who had been
"relocated." Survivors were given a check for $20,000. 50,000
of those who were evacuated to camps had died by 1988. |
Chronology of Events Leading to Japanese Relocation