Japanese Relocation Centers During World War II, nearly 120,000
Japanese Americans were under lock and key by Ricco Villanueva
Siasoco and Shmuel Ross On February 19, 1942, soon after the
beginning of World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed
Executive Order 9066. The evacuation order commenced the round-
up of 120,000 Americans of Japanese heritage to one of 10
internment camps—officially called "relocation centers"—in
California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and
Arkansas. Why Were the Camps Established? Roosevelt's executive
order was fueled by anti-Japanese sentiment among farmers who
competed against Japanese labor, politicians who sided with
anti-Japanese constituencies, and the general public, whose
frenzy was heightened by the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor.
More than two-thirds of the Japanese who were interned in the
spring of 1942 were citizens of the United States. Similar
Orders in Canada In Canada, similar evacuation orders were
established. Nearly 23,000 Nikkei, or Canadians of Japa