Department of Justice camps

More than 5,500 Japanese immigrants (Issei) were arrested by the FBI following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Most were sent first to temporary Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detention stations and then transferred to Department of Justice (DOJ) internment camps, where they waited to appear before the Alien Enemy Hearing Board. These hearings determined whether the Issei would remain in the internment camps or be "released" to the War Relocation Authority (WRA) concentration camps. After the hearings, most of the Issei were sent to U.S. Army internment camps. The U.S. Army, charged with detaining military prisoners of war (POWs), then returned the Issei internees to DOJ control. The DOJ camps also interned Italian and German nationals and Japanese Latin Americans. Most of the DOJ internment camps held only men who had been separated from their families, but three camps housed single women and families. The camps were run by the INS, part of the Department of Justice.

World War II (231)
Department of Justice camps (409)

Related articles from the Densho Encyclopedia :
Crystal City (detention facility), Fort Lincoln (Bismarck) (detention facility), Fort Missoula (detention facility), Fort Stanton (detention facility), J. Edgar Hoover, Kenedy (detention facility), Kooskia (detention facility), Old Raton (detention facility), Santa Fe (detention facility), Seagoville (detention facility), Sites of incarceration

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409 items
An Oral History with Mitsuhiko H. Shimizu (ddr-csujad-29-57)
vh An Oral History with Mitsuhiko H. Shimizu (ddr-csujad-29-57)
Issei community leader and businessman in Los Angeles's Little Tokyo recounts his arrest by Federal Bureau of Investigation after Pearl Harbor, his experiences in internment camps in North Dakota and Louisiana, and the Manzanar incarceration camp, California. This oral history was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project, Oral History Program, CSU Fullerton. Transcript is …
An Oral History with Reverend Seytsu Takahashi (ddr-csujad-29-58)
vh An Oral History with Reverend Seytsu Takahashi (ddr-csujad-29-58)
Issei Buddhist bishop and superintendent of Kayasan Temple in Little Tokyo since 1931 recounts his wartime experiences and internment at Fort Missoula, Montana; Livingstone, Louisiana; and Crystal City, Texas. Transcribed in both Japanese and English. This oral history was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project, Oral History Program, CSU Fullerton. Transcript is found in …
An oral history with Ronald Tanimoto (ddr-csujad-29-44)
av An oral history with Ronald Tanimoto (ddr-csujad-29-44)
An oral interview with Ronald Tanimoto, internee at the Crystal City Department of Justice internment camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0144. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2473_T01
Letter from Tatsuya Ichikawa to Loyd H. Jenson (ddr-densho-258-204)
doc Letter from Tatsuya Ichikawa to Loyd H. Jenson (ddr-densho-258-204)
Tatsuya Ichikawa writes to Loyd H. Jensen the Officer in Charge of the Sante Fe Department of Justice Internment Camp. Ichikawa requests to be given temporary parole so he could travel to Minidoka concentration camp to help his family. His two youngest children were hospitalized. A post-it note written by Satoru Ichikawa attached to the letter …
Telegram from Shigeo Fukuhara to Tatuya Ichikawa (ddr-densho-258-205)
doc Telegram from Shigeo Fukuhara to Tatuya Ichikawa (ddr-densho-258-205)
A telegram sent to Tatsuya Ichikawa at Santa Fe Department of Justice Internment Camp from Shigeo Fukuhara at Minidoka Concentration Camp informing Tatsuya that his two youngest children have been hospitalized. Fukuhara informs Ichikawa that telegrams from the Minidoka Health Nurse and Social Service Counselor have been sent to help Ichikawa get temporary parole so he …
In My Parents' Words (ddr-densho-258-208)
doc In My Parents' Words (ddr-densho-258-208)
A booklet to accompany a panel entitled In My Parents' Words: Voices from the Department of Justice Camps at the 2013 Japanese American National Museum National Conference held at the Sheraton Hotel in Seattle, Washington. Satoru Ichikawa focuses on the separation of his father, a Buddhist priest, from his family for two years during the family's …
Buddhist ministers at Sante Fe internment camp (ddr-densho-310-1)
img Buddhist ministers at Sante Fe internment camp (ddr-densho-310-1)
A group photograph of the Buddhist ministers interned at Sante Fe internment camp. Etsuko Osaki's father, Tatsuya Ichikawa, is in the second row, third from the left. Ichikawa was picked up by the FBI in April 1942. He remained separated from his family for two years before they reunited in Crystal City internment camp.
Information concerning Hawaiian internees (ddr-densho-314-12)
doc Information concerning Hawaiian internees (ddr-densho-314-12)
This document lists the family members of Kazuichi Takanishi. It shows that two of his sons were serving in the US Army. Partly due to his sons' service, Takanishi was paroled first to Chicago, Illinois on the mainland and then later back to Hawaii.
Parole order (ddr-densho-314-8)
doc Parole order (ddr-densho-314-8)
On the back of the document, there is a stamp from The National Archives stating that this document came from Record Group No. 210.
Letter to Kinuta Uno at Fort Missoula (ddr-densho-324-4)
doc Letter to Kinuta Uno at Fort Missoula (ddr-densho-324-4)
Correspondence from Kinuta Uno's daughter discussing, school, paperwork and the imminent mass removal of the Japanese American community from Washington.
Letter to Kinuta Uno at Fort Missoula (ddr-densho-324-17)
doc Letter to Kinuta Uno at Fort Missoula (ddr-densho-324-17)
Correspondence from Kinuta Uno's wife and daughter discussing life at Pinedale Assembly Center.
Letter to Kinuta Uno at Fort Missoula (ddr-densho-324-5)
doc Letter to Kinuta Uno at Fort Missoula (ddr-densho-324-5)
Correspondence from Kinuta Uno's daughter discussing mass removal and the need to sell their car. Also included, a document for the lost title and registration cards.
Correspondence about a check book (ddr-densho-324-57)
doc Correspondence about a check book (ddr-densho-324-57)
A check book sent to Kinuta Uno while he was in Fort Missoula.
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