The U.S. government is urging Japanese-Latin Americans who were taken from their homes in Latin America and held in U.S. internment camps during World War II to apply for U.S. redress before the deadline expires.
Under an agreement announced by the U.S. Justice Department last month, Japanese-Latin Americans interned during the war will be entitled to receive $5,000 and a U.S. government apology. This agreement resolves a 1996 civil suit filed by five former Japanese-Latin American internees who had been denied redress under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, under which Japanese-Americans received apologies and restitution for the fundamental injustice of their forced evacuation, relocation and internment during the war.
The U.S. Justice Department's Office of Redress Administration said it has received approximately 600 claims to date from Japanese-Latin Americans who were denied redress under the 1988 act. The plaintiffs estimate that more than 2,000 Japanese-Latin Americans were interned during the war, but that only 1,300 may still be alive.