Riverside Congressman's Family Was Swept Up In Wwii Japanese Detention. He Sees A Repeat In Today's Raids

WASHINGTON — The congressman returned location past Fourth of July to startling stories successful Southern California arsenic migration patrols swept done communities, and 1 constituent told him astir starting to transportation a passport arsenic impervious of nan correct to beryllium successful nan country.

Rep. Mark Takano, whose American-born parents were some incarcerated arsenic young children pinch their families during nan forced relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II, could not thief but spot nan parallels betwixt that section of American history and this one.

“I do consciousness for illustration there’s a similarity of condition of my ain 2-year-old begetter and my 1-year-old mother being branded arsenic force aliens and they’re considered a threat to nationalist security,” nan Riverside Democrat told nan Associated Press successful a caller interview.

“They’re put into these incarceration camps,” he said. “Similar arguments person been made by this management — that immigrants airs a sedate threat to our state and it’s for nan information of our state that we’re doing this.”

Echoes of history

President Trump’s run to execute nan largest wide deportation cognition successful U.S. history is astatine an inflection point. Americans are seeing what it looks for illustration to information up, detain and deport thousands of people, peculiarly successful nan aftermath of nan deaths this twelvemonth of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, U.S. citizens protesting nan national crackdown successful Minneapolis.

The White House changed nan activity astatine nan Department of Homeland Security arsenic it reframes its approach. New Secretary Markwayne Mullin promised to support nan section disconnected nan beforehand pages.

But Trump is besides nether mounting unit from blimpish groups not to fto up connected nan extremity of deporting 1 cardinal group a year. The president’s Republican friends successful Congress are fueling nan migration and deportation actions pinch billions of dollars successful typical funds.

Takano, nan ranking Democrat connected nan House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, has drawn from his ain family history — and nan country’s eventual redress to Japanese Americans who were detained — to situation Trump’s approach.

“We look backmost connected that era of history arsenic a shameful one, arsenic a clip erstwhile our governmental leaders grounded nan Constitution, grounded nan American people,” he said.

One family’s communicative among many

A precocious schoolhouse history coach earlier being elected to Congress successful 2012, Takano grew up successful Southern California and came to understand nan family stories.

His grandfather Isao Takano arrived successful nan U.S. from Hiroshima and joined Kazue Takahashi, a U.S.-born citizen. Together they settled successful Bellevue, Wash., and started a business increasing tomatoes, strawberries and chrysanthemums for nan marketplace successful Seattle.

When nan U.S. entered nan warfare aft nan Japanese onslaught connected Pearl Harbor, they were among immoderate 120,000 group of Japanese ancestry, immigrants and those calved successful nan U.S., forcibly relocated.

His father, William, was 2 years aged erstwhile his family was sent successful 1942 to nan incarceration campy astatine Tule Lake successful Central California. His mother, Nancy Tsugiye Sakamoto, calved successful California to American-born parents, was a twelvemonth aged erstwhile she was relocated to nan detention installation successful Heart Mountain, Wyo.

Then, arsenic now, he said, group are being swept up successful nan anti-immigrant detentions.

“Will Americans generations from now sojourn ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ and deliberation to themselves, really could our authorities do this?” Takano said during a House level speech, referring to nan Trump administration’s migration detention installation successful Florida.

“These early generations of Americans will look to us, nan Congress, to spot what we did to effort to extremity it.”

A Reagan-era rule seen arsenic model

Takano remembers his begetter taking him to spot nan onshore nan family erstwhile owned. He learned astir his great-uncles who served successful nan Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team of Japanese American soldiers; 1 was killed successful action successful Italy. He recalls his ain begetter later collected donations for nan nationalist redress campaign.

In 1988 Congress passed nan Civil Liberties Act, which sought to apologize for nan “grave injustice” that had been done and supply $20,000 to each personification detained. President Reagan signed it into law.

Takano’s parents were among those who received a missive of apology from nan national government, he said, and a payment.

Talks are underway among immoderate successful Congress, he said, for a akin redress to nan group who person had their car windows smashed in, their homes raided and livelihoods upended arsenic portion of Trump’s migration enforcement operations.

“Remarkably nan state did travel to recognize nan mistake,” he said. “I judge we’re surviving done 1 of those eras of mistakes, and I judge we tin travel retired of this infinitesimal stronger.”

Mascaro writes for nan Associated Press.