REDRESS PHASE 2

Redress Phase 2 is underway. Following the groundbreaking 2019 Shibayama case decision by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Japanese Latin Americans are continuing to fight for US government accountability. Justice demands reparations that match the scope and severity of the violations of fundamental human rights. 

In 2022, for the first time in a presidential proclamation for Day of Remembrance of the WWII Japanese American incarceration, US President Biden acknowledged the JLA incarceration and exclusion from redress under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.  This hopeful sign was later diminished upon learning that the Biden Administration considers resolution to be under the purview of the US Congress.

The struggle for JLA justice is now in the larger context of the existential threat to our nation’s democracy.  All communities are once again seeing and experiencing the ascendancy of authoritarian movements in the US and many places around the world — emboldened racism, wartime hysteria, and failure of political leadership.  The JLA struggle for justice and government accountability is an integral part of the larger struggle against racism, xenophobia, and authoritarianism and for truth, peace, justice, and democracy. 

MOBILIZING FOR EDUCATION, REPARATIONS & DEMOCRACY

Knowing our past helps us to understand lessons to better face the challenges of today.  We want to educate ourselves and the public about the WWII treatment of 31,000 so-called “enemy” – persons of Japanese, German, Italian, and Jewish ancestry – both citizens and immigrant residents of the US as well as those seized from Latin America. We want accountability from our elected officials by securing reparations and stopping the repetition of the abuses from our nation’s history. 

Collaborative work with other communities is exposing the historical truth of the US government’s WWII domestic and foreign policies and actions which led to massive constitutional and human rights violations across two continents.  We are expanding and making more inclusive the wartime and redress narrative. 

By uncovering the fuller history, we are confirming how conditions of war and civil strife can and did lead to claims of military necessity and national security to perpetrate widespread violations of fundamental rights on the basis of national origin, ethnicity, and religion.  We are reaffirming that this was also a racist attack — intersecting with xenophobia and nativism — against persons of Japanese ancestry, regardless of citizenship and residency. 

Our struggle is for historical truth, justice, democracy in action — to right the wrongs of the past and to build a better future for us all.  Please join us in urging the Biden Administration and the U.S. Congress to secure proper reparations for the JLAs; to honor the rule of law, including our international legal commitments; and to stop the recurrence of government violations now and in the future.

GOALS FOR THIS STAGE OF THE REPARATIONS MOVEMENT

  • Support social justice legislation
  • Educate & mobilize the public for redress action, using our powerful resources. 

Support Social Justice Legislation

The ascendency of authoritarian movements, especially in the governments of nations — including the United States — has increased the urgency to pass effective legislation that would repeal the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and similar laws that increase government surveillance of minority communities and authorize roundups and detentions without due process constraints.  

Here are three bills pending in Congress which protect our fundamental rights and need to be passed. 

The Neighbors Not Enemies Act is proposed to repeal the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (AEA). The AEA grants the U.S. president the powers to apprehend and deport non-U.S. citizens labeled as “enemy aliens” during wartime without due process. The AEA was historically used to justify the deportation and internment of JLAs among other groups and is currently being threatened to be utilized to deport and intern undocumented immigrants.

The Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act prohibits unlawful detention based on race, ethnicity, national origin and other protected characteristics.

The Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act (HR-40/S-40), establishes a study commission to examine slavery and its ongoing manifestations and impact in the US and recommends appropriate remedies.

Educate & mobilize the public for redress action with our powerful resources

JLA Oral Histories. These are our most treasured resource, serving to help preserve family legacies;  document testimonial evidence; deepen understanding of wartime and redress experiences; and inspire intergenerational dialogue and activism. Our plan for the near future is to increase public access to our oral histories. We invite you to help us collect, document, preserve and interpret JLA family histories. We particularly need help to digitize, transcribe, translate, edit, and archive our JLA oral histories.

The Enemy Alien Files: Hidden Stories of WWII traveling exhibit. We are excited to share our traveling exhibit now on tour. The Enemy Alien Files webpage houses the exhibit tour calendar, booking information, an online version of the exhibit and other resources. This exhibit is a stunning presentation of the WWII experience of over 31,000 so-called “enemy aliens” of Japanese, Italian, German, and Jewish ancestry in the US and from Latin America. The exhibit reminds us of the fragile nature of our constitutional and human rights in times of international and domestic crisis as well as the human impact of government policies in the name of “national security.”   Due to current events around the Alien Enemies Act, this exhibit is crucial to highlight the violations to human rights that is inherent in the act. Please help us to bring the exhibit to your community or campus.

The Hidden Internment: The Art Shibayama Story documentary.  This 26-minute film focuses on the experiences of former Japanese Peruvian internee Art Shibayama — from his forcible deportation from his home in Peru and internment in Crystal City, Texas to his inspiring activism for JLA justice.  A 2025 supplementary clip covers the Shibayama case victory at the IACHR, Phase 2 of the redress movement, and CFJ’s ongoing work. We could use your help to translate the clip to Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese.

GET INVOLVED!

1. Bring the Enemy Alien Files: Hidden Stories of WWII exhibit to your community.

2. Support these bills in Congress.

  • Neighbors Not Enemies Act to repeal the Alien Enemies Act of 1798
  • Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act to prohibit unlawful detention based on race, ethnicity, national origin, etc.
  • Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act (HR-40/S-40)

3. Volunteer with CFJ or JPOHP.

  • Preserve JLA oral histories 
  • Help update the documentary Hidden Internment: The Art Shibayama Story 
  • Share your translation (Spanish, Japanese), website, social media, technical, and writing skills
  • Contact us to attend our Volunteer Orientation Session 

4. Make a financial donation.

5. Spread the word about the ongoing JLA reparations struggle.

6. Stay in touch by following the CFJ website, Facebook page, and Instagram.

You can make a difference. Thank you!

JLA REDRESS RESOURCES

Here are some educational and mobilization resources for your reference. Please help spread the word.

Reference Videos

The documentary Hidden Internment: The Art Shibayama Story, 2004, 26 minutes, courtesy of Peek Media

Hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, March 21, 2017, video courtesy of the IACHR (with an introduction in Spanish and the remainder in English)

Press Conference announcing victory at the IACHR, August 5, 2020 (program begins at 3:23)