Crystal City Internment Camp - Closing

Closing

On January 24, 1946 Crystal City Internment Camp official J. L. O'Rourke closed the German and Japanese schools and ordered that all remaining students enroll in the American schools. The American schools were then closed on June 28, 1946, but only 16 Japanese students still remained in Crystal City with their parents. The population of the camp was already low because numerous internees were repatriated to their native countries after the war ended. The INS rejected the proposed idea of transferring the Japanese students into public schools near Crystal City. Due to the INS decision and the lack of resources to move elsewhere, the remaining Japanese internees reinstalled the Japanese School. The last remaining detainees were Japanese Peruvians, who were prohibited from returning to Peru by that country's government but were treated as illegal immigrants by the U.S. government. Eventually, they were released and on February 11, 1948, the Crystal City Internment Camp was officially closed.