November 6, 1942

Dear Mr. Myer:

I have your letter of November 4 enclosing petition requesting transfer of evacuees at Minidoka to internment camps to accomplish family unity.

Alien civilian internment is in the hands of the Department of Justice so far as internment and release is concerned, although the actual policing of the camps is a responsibility of the Army. I suggest, therefore, that this petition be taken up with Mr. Ennis of the Department of Justice.

While ordinarily I would favor any steps toward family unity in appropriate cases, I am not particularly enthusiastic about a wholesale transfer which would subject the Nisei to further Issei contamination. It is a question of balancing the relative merits of segregation based on loyalty, which we all endorse, against segregation based on family ties. If any steps are taken, I think it would be better to parole selected internees to relocation centers than to transfer the remainder of the family into internment camps.

Sincerely,
JOHN J. McCLOY
Assistant Secretary of War

Mr. Dillon S. Myer, Director
War Relocation Authority
Room 812, Barr Building
Washington, D.C.