Our government restricted their travel to their neighborhoods and classified normal household items. such as shortwave radios. cameras. flashlights and weapons as contraband material in their possession. On February 19. 1942. an Executive Order was issued giving the Secretary of War the authority to exclude American citizens as well as alien enemies. from such areas as the Secretary should designate. Americans now realize that this provision began a dark period of American history. authorizing the internment of immigrants residing in the United States as well as American citizens. While most Americans are aware of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. few are aware that Italians and German legal residents of the United States were also restricted. Italian immigrants. ItalianAmericans and their families were viewed as a genuine threat to American security at the beginning of World War II. Fear and ethnic bias led to the relocation of nearly 10.000 members of the Italian community from their homes on the West Coast.
Identified stereotypes
Italian immigrants, ItalianAmericans and their families were viewed as a genuine threat to American security at the beginning of World War II.