Why was the internment unnecessary? The Japanese invaded and held Alaskan islands during the war, while they observed a truce with the Soviet Union.
While there was financial hardship for the internees, they were cared for/treated well; not sure what options our government had at the time.
I will avoid commenting on some of the replies to my initial post (some of which contained historical errors and outright howlers) and make a blanket statement:
Yes, there WERE Japanese spies in the us (just like there were GERMAN spies, which led to mass-internment of German-Americans ... oh wait ... that didn’t happen)
Yes, in the hysteria of post Pearl-Harbor it is understadeable why the internment happened ...
... which did not make it right. Yes, there was more than a dollop of racism involved (Amerian was after all a racially divided nation at the time).
It just wasn’t one of the brightest moment in our history, OK?
Does anyone remember the fact that the Japanese-American GIs (many of whose family members were interned) were among the highest decorated for bravery in Europe?