Japanese Americans were incarcerated during world war two because they were suspected of remaining loyal to their ancestral land. The anti-Japanese paranoia was escalated due to their massive population on the West Coast where they had migrated to look for jobs. The invasion of American mainland by the Japanese native soldiers made America cautious of the security risk that the Japanese Americans posed on them. President Franklin D. Roosevelt succumbed to bad advice and popular opinion in February 1942 when he signed an executive order that required all the Americans of Japanese ancestry to relocate to concentration camps in the United States.
Japan bombed Pearl Harbour in December 1941, and this became the basis on which Americans of other races took advantage to demand Americans of Japanese origin to be incarcerated. Most of the individuals relocated were born in America, but their loyalty was still placed in doubt. Laws had been passed that prevented people of Japanese origin to own land, be naturalized as citizens or participate in electing the leaders of the country. Individuals were forced to sell their land and property before relocating; this by itself was a significant economic setback to the American Japanese families. All the Americans of Japanese origin were forced to move to control centers where they were cataloged and moved to different internment camps. Inside the camps, they were compelled to answer questionnaires regarding their loyalty to the United States.
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Based on my opinion the internment was not justified because discriminatory policies are bound to bring a long-lasting rivalry between the diverse races in the state. The main reason America fought world war II was to preserve freedom and democracy, yet on the contrary, they were depriving Americans of Japanese origin their freedom and democratic rights by imprisoning them in camps. Furthermore, the majority of the people incarcerated had no reason to be termed guilty or even suspicious beyond their ethnicity. The main agenda for the relocation of Americans of Japanese origin was based on racism and not security per se.
Prior to the world war, Japanese immigrants had been discriminated against; laws had been passed preventing them from being naturalized as citizens, they were not allowed to vote also. Almost two-thirds of the Japanese Americans were born in the United States, and they had never been to Japan hence their loyalty should not have been questioned. Also, Japanese veterans who had fought in the World War I were still forced to leave the homes even after fighting for the country. They should not have been subjected to such a situation after sacrificing their lives for the good of the country.
Furthermore, the executive order violated the constitutional rights of American citizens of Japanese origin. The constitution prohibits the depriving of any person of life liberty or property without the due process of law, yet the government went ahead to deprive them of these privileges by confiscating them in camps and ordering them to sell their land property before being relocated. Internees suffered both emotional and physical distress during the internment since the guards regularly monitored them.
Reference
Densho (n.d). A Community Grows, Despite Racism Japanese American Incarceration and Japanese Internment. Retrieved October 30, 2016, from http://www.densho.org/a-community-grows-despite-racism/
