Speech #960239083

There were rumors that Japanese farmers in Hawaii had cut arrows in their fields to direct Japanese fighter pilots to Pearl Harbor. and that west coast Japanese were also organized to help the enemy. Such rumors were later found to be without foundation. but in the anxieties of the moment they were believed. On February 19. 1942. President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which set in motion an evacuation program of JapaneseAmericans. It applied to citizens and noncitizens alike in the three west coast States and a portion of Arizona. Some 110.000 Japaneseof whom more than 70.000 were U.S. citizens by birthwere sent to assembly centers set up at fairgrounds and racetracks. They were then transferred to 10 semipermanent relocation camps in distant. underpopulated areas. such as Minidoka.