Japanese Americans arrested in Hawai`i were established in their careers. Many had worked as journalists, clergy of both Christian and Buddhist denominations, and businesspersons. Others worked at one time or another for the Japanese government—for example—on behalf of Japanese immigrants.
Approximately five hundred and ninety Japanese Hawaiians were sent to Angel Island. They were placed on seven transfer boats to the mainland, first stopping at Angel Island before continuing to internment camps across the United States.
Immigrants, or U.S. citizens, arrested in San Francisco, CA were brought to an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detention center on Silver Avenue. They would be interrogated and given an official hearing. If they were found guilty in the hearing, they would be sent to Sharp Park in Pacifica or Angel Island.
Santa Fe Internment Camp, New Mexico. From 1942 to 1946, nearly 4,500 individuals passed through its gates, including many from Angel Island. Courtesy of the National Archives.
After Angel Island, internees were moved along several routes that typically ended at the Santa Fe Internment Camp in New Mexico.
Some families of Hawaiian internees made the difficult decision to leave their homes in Hawai`i to join their loved ones at WRA camps in places like Jerome, Arkansas and Gila River, Arizona. Others went to the Department of Justice’s Crystal City Family Internment Camp in Texas.
Families of West Coast internees were forced to live in WRA camps after Executive Order 9066. While some internees would be reunited with their families at these camps, others would have to wait until the end of World War II.
Internees who requested repatriation to Japan were sent to the Tule Lake Segregation Center. They often changed their minds due to family objections or after learning of the dire conditions in the country.
The pathways for six individuals who were sent to Angel Island after their arrest on the mainland.
Internment refers to the confinement of “enemy aliens” in a time of war. Most individuals sent to WRA camps during World War II were American citizens. Thus, the word incarceration is a more accurate description of their experiences. At times, we use the word “internee” to describe individuals incarcerated during the war to avoid more implicating terms like “prisoner” and “enemy alien.”
