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I should add, throughout the war with Japan, the West Coast maritime lanes were under active attacks by a fleet of up to 10 Japanese subs. One famous quote of a sub commander of the time was “I left Santa Barbara in flames”, a laughable exaggeration, as was the ‘completely destroyed’ (baseball backstop at) Ft Stephens in Oregon. California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska all were subjected to Japanese “fire balloons” purposed to burn our national forests or whatever else they landed on. Beaches were strung with razorwire. Simply put, the USA was under direct and continuing attacks by the Japanese.

The first roundups of Japanese were of already FBI-identified ‘enemies’; then the obvious sympathizers, as were the first roundups of the German nationals. As the truths of horrific torture inflicted by non-Geneva-Convention-conforming Japanese combatants upon Allied troops, the Chinese, the Filipinos, Pacific Islanders became widely known, and as the sinking of Soviet, Alaskan and Mexican ships off of the West Coast continued (at one point leading to the infamous “Battle of Los Angeles”), it then truly became a matter of “their own safety” for all Japanese in California especially to be someplace other than on “The Front”, i.e., the West Coast.

What never rises above the political whine of ‘internment!’ is the background leading to it and the astounding fact that after the war, the Western Civilization was able to accept back into their communities those they warred with and lost children to; in less than 70 years that reintegration has become seamless. IMO, When viewed in a complete historical context there was nothing in the least 'sinister' about Japanese interrment during a World War, and it is a disservice to citizens of the USA to imply otherwise or attempt to link it in some way to investigation of radical Islam in America.

Silly person. "THEY" forgot to lock up the JAs in Hawaii, which was certainly on the most leading edge of that West Coast front.

Oh, and they didn't lock the JAs up on the East Coast which was being assaulted by HUNDREDS of German submarines. You can see the memorials to their sinkings by the US Navy all up and down the highways from Maine to the tip of Florida.

A friend of mine who was in the German army at the age of 15 (at the end of the war) said US 1 has more memorials regarding German involvement in WWII than does all of Germany, or any other place!

I know a family who were American citizens and owned huge chunks of land along Wilshire Boulevard. The roundup and detention had to do with the desires of some with high level connections to achieve ownership of that property.