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Robert T. Matsui Legacy Project
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September 1971
President Richard Nixon signs a bill to repeal Title II of the Internal Security Act of 1950 (Public Law 92-128).

The rise of communism and the resulting Cold War became an influential backdrop during the development of Title II, or the Emergency Detention Act. Part of the Internal Security Act, this legislation passed in 1950 over President Truman's veto. The act provided that in event of a declaration of war or insurrection within the United States, the president--on the mere suspicion that a person might engage in or conspire with others to engage in acts of espionage or of sabotage--could order individuals be held in places of detention. The Justice Department designated six concentration camp sites to be used for this purpose, including one that held Japanese Americans during World War II--Tule Lake, CA.

After President Lyndon Johnson reactivated the camps, Japanese Americans began to work for the repeal of this odious act. Activist members from the Berkeley, Contra Costa and Oakland chapters of the JACL began the movement for the repeal. Eventually, the National JACL also embraced the repeal movement. Senator Dan Inouye introduced a bill to repeal the Emergency Detention Act of 1950. Finally, President Nixon signed the repeal in 1971.

Valuable experience was gained by Japanese Americans during this period, experience that laid the foundation for the redress and reparation movement.

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