These camps began after the start of World War II on February 19 , 1942 when Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066. This order called for all of the some 120,000 Japanese Americans to one of ten internment camps established, also called "relocation centers". They were located in Utah, Wyoming, California, Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, and Arkansas.

These camps were overcrowded and had poor living conditions. A report in 1943 stated that these camps had no plumbing or cooking facilities of any kind, and were merely simply framed barracks, covered with tarpaper. Food was also rationed out at 48 cents per internee.

These camps were overcrowded and had poor living conditions. A report in 1943 stated that these camps had no plumbing or cooking facilities of any kind, and were merely simply framed barracks, covered with tarpaper. Food was also rationed out at 48 cents per internee.

Although they had leadership positions available in these camps, they were only available to Nisei(american born japanese). However, internees were allowed to leave the camps, if they joined the army , as in Okada's case. Not many accepted this offer, as only 1,200 joined. Women were also asked if they were willing to join the army's nursing corps,or the women's army corps.The last of these internment camps was closed in 1946.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Americans seemed to gain a hysteria for war. Many of our state legislators put pressure in President Roosevelt to take action on those of japanese descent living in the U.S. . More than 2/3 of the Japanese who were interned in the spring of 1942 were citizens of the United States. In 1944, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the exclusion, removal, and detention, arguing that it is permissible to curtail the civil rights of a racial group when there is a "pressing public necessity.", allowing the japanese to be forcably moved from their homes.