UC Santa Cruz

This dissertation examines the role of Congress in the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans. From 1941 until 1946, Congress was the most active and influential branch of the federal government in shaping government policies towards Japanese Americans and defining their public image. As this dissertation shows, it was members of Congress who submitted the first proposals for the forced removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast, and called for their indefinite detention. Along the way, my project offers a new history on Asian American lobbyists and their role in shaping immigration policy. While members in Congress called for the imprisonment of the West Coast Japanese American community, the halls of the House and Senate offered Japanese Americans a forum to present their viewpoint. Over the course of the war, members of the Japanese American Citizens League lobbied Congress to present the views of the Japanese American community and dispel anti-Japanese rumors of coddling in the camps, and supported the efforts of Japanese Americans leaving the camps.