Korematsu v. United States

From Conservapedia

In Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the internment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II. This policy constituted discrimination based on nationality and some of the victims sued to stop it. Three justices dissented from this decision, which is considered one of the Court's most embarrassing rulings. In 1948 Congress enacted the Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act to compensate for losing homes and businesses. Additional acts further compensated them for the relocation. In 1980, Congress held hearings to review some of the personal hardships, and issued a report in 1983 condemning President Roosevelt's removal order the Supreme Court decision.

In the United States during World War II there were thousands of American residents of Japanese descent, particularly in California. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, and America declared war on Japan and Germany, fear and distrust about Japanese and German aliens arose. Rumors of surprise Japanese attacks on the west coast of the United States became common, and some American officials feared spying by Japanese. The loyalty of American resident aliens of Japanese and German nationality was doubted.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with the support of California Governor Earl Warren (who was later appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the 1950s), ordered that people of Japanese descent be forced to be relocated away from the west coast. These included many children who had been born in the United States (the "Nisei") as citizens, and many people who might be called undocumented aliens today. They were given opportunities to sell or lease their property. Many of the internment camps were located away from the coasts in unfamiliar territories, such as near Indian reservations. Overall, 110,100 Japanese Americans were forcibly moved to internment camps during the war. Thousands of German and Italian Americans were also relocated.