Italian American Internment - 1941 To 1943

1941 To 1943

Chronology of events regarding the treatment of enemy aliens and the reaction in the Italian community.

• In the months immediately after the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, hundreds of Italians were arrested. On December 11, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy declared war on the United States. The United States reciprocated and entered World War II. By June 1942, the total reached 1,521 Italian aliens arrested by the FBI. About 250 individuals were interned for up to two years in military camps in Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.

• In late December 1941, enemy aliens throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were required to surrender hand cameras, short-wave radio receiving sets and radio transmitters not later than 11 p.m. on the following Monday.

• In January 1942, all enemy aliens were required to register at local post offices. As enemy aliens they were required to be fingerprinted, photographed, and carry their photo-bearing "enemy alien registration cards" at all times. Attorney General Francis Biddle assured enemy aliens that they would not be discriminated against if they were loyal. He cited Department of Justice figures: of the 1,100,000 enemy aliens in the United States, 92,000 were Japanese, 315,000 were German, and 695,000 were Italian. In all, 2,972 had been arrested and held, mostly Japanese and Germans. Only 231 Italians had been arrested.

• On January 11, the New York Times reported that "Representatives of 200,000 Italian-American trade unionists appealed to President Roosevelt yesterday to 'remove the intolerable stigma of being branded as enemy aliens' from Italian and German nationals who had formally declared their intentions of becoming American citizens by taking out first papers before America's entry into the war."

• A few weeks later, the same newspaper reported that "Thousands of enemy aliens living in areas adjacent to shipyards, docks, power plants and defense factories prepared today to find new homes as Attorney General Biddle added sixty-nine more districts in California to the earlier list of West Coast sections barred to Japanese, Italian and German nationals.

• On February 1, the Justice Department warned all aliens of enemy nationalities fourteen years of age or older that they had to register within the week if they lived in the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Montana, Utah or Idaho. Failure to do so could result in severe penalties, including internment for the duration of the war.

• Later in February, the Italian American Labor Council, founded by Luigi Antonini, met in New York and voiced "opposition to any blanket law for aliens that does not differentiate between those who are subversive and those who are loyal to America."

• In March, the War Relocation Authority is established (see above). Again, the relocation of citizens and non-citizens, alike, under this authority was legally quite different than the arrest and detention of foreign nationals under the Enemy Alien Act. By September 23, 1942, the Justice Department claimed "…From the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor until 1 September, 6,800 enemy aliens were apprehended in the United States and half of them have either been paroled or released."

• In October, the 600,000 unnaturalized Italians living in the United States were freed from the stigma of being alien enemies. The plan was approved by President Roosevelt and many restrictions were lifted. Members of the Italian community could now travel freely, own cameras and firearms, and were not required to carry ID cards.

• Italy's surrender on September 8, 1943 brought about the release of most of the Italian American internees by year's end. Some had been paroled months after "exoneration" by a second hearing board appealed for by their families. Nonetheless, most of the men had spent two years as prisoners, moving from camp to camp every three to four months.