Speech #1090108796

I myself did not initially know. is the story of Latin Americans of Japanese descent taken from their homes in Latin America. stripped of their passports. brought to the U.S.. and interned in American camps. This is a story about the U.S. governments act of reaching its arm across international borders. into a populous that did not pose an immediate threat to our nation. in order to use them. devoid of passports or any other proof of citizenship. for hostage exchange with Japan. Between the years 1941 and 1945. our government. with the help of Latin American officials. arbitrarily arrested persons of Japanese descent from streets. homes. and workplaces. and brought approximately 2.300 undocumented persons to camp sites in the U.S.. where they were held under armed watch. then used for prisoner exchange. Those used in an exchange were sent to Japan. a foreign country that many had never set foot on since their ancestors immigration to Latin America. Despite their involuntary arrival. Latin American internees of Japanese descent were considered by the Immigration and Naturalization Service as illegal entrants. By the end of the war. many Japanese Latin Americans had been sent to Japan. Those who were not used in a prisoner exchange were cast out into a new and Englishspeaking country. and subject to deportation proceedings. Some returned to Latin America. but some remained in the U.S.. where their Latin American country of origin refused their reentry because they were unable to present a passport. When I first learned of the wartime experiences of Japanese Latin Americans. it seemed unfathomable. but indeed. it happened.