Japanese immigrants from Hawaii and the continental U.S. as well as those from Germany and Italy were briefly detained on Angel Island during World War II by the U.S. Department of Justice. In addition to the War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps such as Tule Lake, Manzanar and Topaz, located across the western half of the United States (which housed approximately 120,000 immigrant and U.S. born Japanese Americans) an additional 7,000 Japanese immigrants and Japanese Latin Americans were arrested by the Department of Justice and detained in camps such as Lordsburg and Santa Fe, New Mexico, Missoula, Montana, and Crystal City, Texas.

Approximately 600 Japanese Americans from Hawaii, and close to 90 from the West Coast, spent a few weeks at Angel Island before being sent to the locations listed above. For most of them, wartime sent them from camp to camp, separated from their loved ones who were either at home in Hawaii or relocated to WRA camps. Our records so far also show approximately 20 German immigrants and 20 Italian immigrants spent some time on Angel Island.

AIISF’s research was funded by the Japanese American Confinement Sites fund of the National Park Service, and we wish to express our appreciation to them for supporting this project.

Help us by contributing new names or stories to our list! Email info@aiisf.org with any additions, comments, questions, or corrections.