Supporters of Latin Americans of Japanese heritage forcibly interned in the United States during World War II urged the U.S. on Monday to provide redress to the internees.
"We believe it's wrong, illegal and against the U.S. Constitution for the government to forcibly take people from Latin America against their will and not provide them the redress they deserve," said Robin S. Toma, one of the four lawyers representing the five plaintiffs seeking inclusion of Japanese-Latin Americans in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, the redress legislation covering Japanese-American internees.
Toma and representatives of former internees met reporters Monday as part of their 15-day campaign to encourage former U.S. internment camp inmates in Japan to seek redress from the U.S. government before the redress legislation expires early next year. The redress expires next August, and the application for redress must be submitted by Feb. 1.
According to Toma, 2,264 people of Japanese ancestry from 13 Latin American countries -- mainly Peru -- were forcibly taken to the U.S. for hostage exchanges during World War II and were put in concentration camps there. About 1,700 were deported to Japan during and after the war, he claimed.
The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 provided Japanese-American internees with redress, but Japanese-Latin Americans are excluded due to their lack of U.S. citizenship or permanent residency, according to Toma. "But how can they call us illegal residents when they forced us to move and stay in the United States?" questioned Mitsuaki Oyama, 68, a former Japanese-Peruvian internee who now resides in Kanagawa Prefecture.
The number of Japanese-Latin American internees still living in Japan is not clear, but Oyama has found 185 others so far, he said.