On this day in 1942,

FDR War Relocation Authority Created

 To Imprison Japanese Citizens

Democrat-Appointed Majority of Justices on Supreme Court Approve

One and Only Republican-Appointed Justice Dissents

On this day, the War Relocation Authority was created per the direction of Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt to imprison over 120,000 Japanese citizens residing in the states of California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona solely because of their national origin.

There were three categories of Japanese citizens covered by the order: Nisei (native U.S. citizens of Japanese immigrant parents), Issei (Japanese immigrants), and Kibei (native U.S. citizens educated largely in Japan). The internees were transported to relocation centers in California, Utah, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, and Wyoming.

Milton Eisenhower, the younger brother of Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, was the first administrator of the WRA.  He was opposed to imprisonment of Japanese citizens and resigned after 90 days.

The Democrat-appointed majority of the Supreme Court, in an opinion authored by former KKK member Hugo Black, upheld this imprisonment of Japanese citizens per the president’s war powers. The only Republican-appointed member of the Supreme Court dissented. 

In 1976 Republican President Gerald Ford signed an executive order prohibiting the executive branch from ever taking such action again. 

In 1988 Republican President Ronald Reagan formally apologized on behalf of the American people and authorized reparations for all those detained or their descendants.