Like with the Japanese internment during World War II, the current move to deport alleged alien criminals is driven by hysteria.
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TheTrumpadministrationhas,forthefourthtimeinhistory,yinvokedthewar-timeAlienEnemiesActof1798 eventhoughournationisnotatwar—anditslastuseremainsoneofthemostshamefulepisodesinAmericanhistory.
ThatinvolvedPresidentFranklinD.Roosevelt’s ExecutiveOrder9066 in1942.Itwasthebasisfortheinternmentofaround112,000peopleofJapanesedescent,70,000ofwhomwereAmericancitizens.
TheJapaneseinternmentshouldbeofparticularinteresttoSouthernCaliforniareaders,asTheOrangeCountyRegisterwastheonlymajorWestCoastpublicationtoopposetheinternmentasitwastakingplace.OtherCalifornianewspapershavesincebemoanedtheinjusticeofincarceratingpeoplebasedontheirethnicityandstrippingthemoftheirproperty.Duringthetime,however,thosenewspapersoftenpromoted fearoftheJapanese.
“Itseemsthatweareremembering,belatedly,thatmorethantwothirdsofthemarecitizens…againstwhomnochargeofdisloyaltyhasbeenbrought,̶
