WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY
Washington
TO ALL PERSONS ON SEASONAL LEAVE:
The War Relocation Authority has announced its plans for carrying on a program of segregating persons in relocation centers on the basis of national loyalties. Director Dillon S. Myer issued the following statement of the reasons for segregation:
"The War Relocation Authority is responsible for the welfare of all the people who live in relocation centers. The execution of this responsibility is made more difficult by the fact that some of the relocation center residents have indicated that they are neither loyal to this county nor sympathetic to its war aims, while the great majority have indicated that they wish to be Americans. The War Relocation Authority has an obligation to each of these groups, and it also has an obligation to safeguard and further the national interest.
"After long and serious deliberation, the decision has been made that the responsibilities of the War Relocation Authority can best be fulfilled if a separation is made between those who wish to follow the American way of life and those whose interests are not in harmony with those of the United States."
As announced by Director Myer, the segregation plans call for transferring to Tule Lake all those persons who are not eligible for leave clearance, and for transferring those now in Tule Lake who are eligible for leave clearance to other centers or permitting them to relocate. After segregation is completed, Tule Lake will include only people who are not eligible for leave and those who voluntarily go there, or remain there, in order to be with other members of their family who are not eligible for leave. The privilege of leave will not apply to people in the Tule Lake Center. All other centers will be composed entirely of persons who are eligible for leave.
Persons who have applied for repatriation or expatriation and have not withdrawn their applications will be designated to live in Tule Lake Center without further formality. Individual hearings will be held for several other groups, including those who refused to register at the time of the general registration in February and March; those who refused to answer the loyalty question; those who answered "No" to the loyalty question or who qualified their answers; those who later changed their answers to "Yes;" those who had applied for repatriation or expatriation but withdrew their applications before July 1, 1943; those with unfavorable records with the intelligence agencies of the government; and those about whom there is other information casting doubt on the loyalty of the individual.
These hearings are to be held in order to insure that no one who wants to be an American shall be denied the privilege of living as an American and contributing to the national war effort.
The hearings to determine who will be segregated already are being held in the relocation centers, and the actual movement of people is expected to take place over a period of approximately six weeks, starting about September 10.
You may rest assured that the decisions as to who should be segregated will
There are some persons out of the centers on seasonal leave who have not received leave clearance and who will be asked to appear for hearings. If you are one of these you will receive written notice. Only a few will be concerned with further hearings.
It is to be hoped that the proposed transfer of some of the residents of the relocation centers will not influence you to do anything other than stay with the job on which you are working and fulfill your contract. If your family is to be moved to Tule Lake, and you personally have been granted leave clearance, there is no need for you to move to Tule Lake. At the end of the contract period, if you desire to join your family in Tule Lake, you may apply for permission to do so, but you should realize that people living in Tule Lake will not be granted leave. If you formerly lived in the Tule Lake Center and your family is to be transferred to one of the relocation centers, you of course will be privileged to return to the new center at the close of your contract, if you do not wish to apply for indefinite leave before or at the time you complete your agreement.
An evacuee on seasonal leave may apply for indefinite leave and have his family join him (1) immediately, using his present seasonal job as a temporary stop and later going to a more permanent location, or (2) his dependents can stay in the center until he is ready for them but not later than the end of October. Evacuees on seasonal leave may not return to the center except under certain conditions which will be explained to you by your Relocation Officer, whose address appears on the envelope enclosing this letter.
Your employer probably agreed at the time of the contract with you to provide return transportation. If your family has been moved during segregation to another and more distant center so that your travel to the other center would involve additional expense to the employer, you will have to pay the extra travel expense back to the new project, but you will be reimbursed by WRA for this extra travel cost when you arrive at the new project. However, should you decide to go to the new center before your contract has been completed, neither WRA nor your employer will assume any responsibility for your transportation.
Since only a small proportion of the relocation center residents will be denied leave clearance and so will be segregated, it is unlikely that your family will be affected. It is probable that you can serve them and yourself best by sticking to your job. In any case, do not alter your plans until you have discussed the matter thoroughly with the WRA Relocation Officer for your area.