Reparations

In the 1970s, through the perseverance of the second generation, Nisei, followed by a large number of first generation, Sansei, the suggestion of getting a government apology and individual reparations became a major discussion throughout the Japanese-American community. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed a law to create the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) (Hatta). The CWRIC was created to perform a study of Executive Order 9066, its following war orders, and the effects of the Japanese-American community on the West Coast. Three years later, the CWRIC concluded that the incarceration of Japanese-Americans had not been justified. They suggest because their civil rights were taken away. It took two presidents after Carter for the surviving internees to receive their CWRIC’s suggestion.

The report said that the decision to incarcerate was based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership." The Commission authorized the solution of an official government apology; pay $20,000 to each survivor of the internment; furthermore a public education fund to help ensure that this will not happen again. On August 10, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, into law. On November 21, 1989, President George H.W. Bush signed another bill sending payments to surviving internees between 1990 and 1998. Finally, in 1990, they began to receive individual payments and a letter of apology (Ibid).