A Destination for the Stateless
In the years immediately following the end of World War II, Seabrook became a harbor for those with no place else to go, who had been rendered stateless by the events of the previous four years. In 1943, in order to qualify for work release or military service, internees of Japanese descent had to answer yes two critical questions on the “loyalty questionnaire.” Question 27 asked men whether they would serve in the military and women whether they would serve in auxiliary roles. Answering yes meant potentially having to leave family members who were still incarcerated and join segregated units. It also asked Nisei internees to perform an obligation of citizenship – while their civil liberties as citizens was being violated. Question 28 asked: “Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States... and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, to any other foreign government, power or organization?” The presumptive phrasing of this question suggested that Japanese Americans may have already been serving Japan, despite no evidence to back this. For Issei imprisoned in camps, renouncing their Japanese citizenship was a risky prospect, because there was no guarantee that the United States would ever restore their basic rights. Of the 75,000 internees who completed the questionnaire, 6,700 answered no to these two questions, earning them the nickname “no-nos.” The military sent “no-nos” to the camp at Tule Lake, where the government could keep closer watch over purportedly disloyal internees. Senichiro Takeda, who was sent to the Tule Lake concentration camp, renounced his American citizenship in protest, and was subsequently registered as an enemy alien. While trying to reclaim his citizenship after the war, in 1947 he was sent to Seabrook Farms. He would have to wait until 1958, after lengthy legal proceedings, to be renaturalized.
In contrast to the meticulous accounting that attended to the internment of Issei and Nisei in the United States, the incarceration of Japanese Latin Americans, most of whom were Peruvian, left them deserted in a foreign country without legal documentation regarding their citizenship status in their former countries. Following Pearl Harbor, the Peruvian government conducted massive arrests and deported Japanese Peruvians to camps, primarily Crystal City, Texas, without warrants or judicial oversight, as part of a bilateral agreement between the two countries. When the war ended, Peru refused re-entry to Japanese Peruvians. The United States declared that Japanese Peruvians were “illegal” aliens, even though they had been brought into the country against their will, and began deporting them to Japan. As Seiichi Higashide described in his memoir Adios to Tears, “The irony of the matter was that the U.S. government had illegally and unreasonably forced the matter upon us.” Wayne Collins, a San Francisco-based civil liberties lawyer intervened to try to bring a legal halt to the process. (Collins would also be influential in restoring citizenship to Tule Lake detainees.) In 1946, he arranged for approximately 300 Japanese Peruvians to be relocated to Seabrook Farms, while their cases were pending. There, while relieved from possible deportation to Japan, they faced economic disadvantages unique to their statelessness, such as having to obtain overpriced groceries at the company store, under surveillance, while other workers were free to shop in town. It was not until the 1952 Immigration and Naturalization Act that the Japanese Peruvians who escaped deportation became eligible for citizenship and gained the right to remain in the United States permanently.
Family posing outside of barracks
The Takedas were sent to the Tule Lake concentration camp in northeastern California, where "no-nos" who rejected the loyalty questionnaire were sent as dissenters ineligible for parole. "Family posing outside of barracks (Front)” (ddr-densho-254-2). Courtesy of the Takeda Family Collection. Retrieved from http://ddr.densho.org/ddr/densho/254/2/. Used under Densho Digital Repository Terms of Use: "Free re-use available. This object is protected by copyright, but the rights holder has allowed us to make it available to you for non-commercial, educational projects."
Alien registration card
Senichiro Takeda renounced his U.S. citizenship in protest of his incarceration. In September 1947, still detained at Tule Lake, he was issued an alien registration card. "Alien registration card” (ddr-densho-254-3). Courtesy of the Takeda Family Collection. Retrieved from http://ddr.densho.org/ddr/densho/254/3/. Used under Densho Digital Repository Terms of Use: "Free re-use available. This object is protected by copyright, but the rights holder has allowed us to make it available to you for non-commercial, educational projects."
Letter regarding release from Seabrook Farms [sic]
In September 1947, Takeda was released to the custody of his attorney Wayne Collins, a leading civil liberties lawyer who represented both Nisei and Japanese Peruvians. Collins arranged for Takeda to be sent to Seabrook Farms awaiting a decision on his legal status. "Letter regarding release from Seabrook Farms” (ddr-densho-254-4). Courtesy of the Takeda Family Collection. Retrieved from http://ddr.densho.org/ddr/densho/254/4/. Used under Densho Digital Repository Terms of Use: "Free re-use available. This object is protected by copyright, but the rights holder has allowed us to make it available to you for non-commercial, educational projects."
Letter regarding cancellation of renunciation of citizenship
It took until 1958 for the federal courts to reach a decision in Takeda's case. A letter from Collins notes that in the end, the judge ruled that Takeda's renunciation of his citizenship was never valid, and "in consequence, you always have been and still are a U.S. citizen." These words may have been little comfort for Takeda, who was initially incarcerated as a native-born citizen, without any formal charges being brought against him. "Letter regarding cancellation of renunciation of citizenship” (ddr-densho-254-5). Courtesy of the Takeda Family Collection. Retrieved from http://ddr.densho.org/ddr/densho/254/5/. Used under Densho Digital Repository Terms of Use: "Free re-use available. This object is protected by copyright, but the rights holder has allowed us to make it available to you for non-commercial, educational projects."
Hand-drawn map of Crystal City internment camp, Texas
Unlike Japanese Americans, who were detained by the military, Japanese Peruvians were detained by the Justice Department. The Justice Department incarcerated Japanese Peruvians and other Latin Americans along with Germans and Italian aliens at Crystal City, Texas. The map shown here was drawn by an internee. Despite the seemingly suburban elements of the camp - the soccer field, the school, the community hall - note the armed guards and watchtowers on the perimeter of the camp. "Hand-drawn map of Crystal City internment camp, Texas” (ddr-densho-64-5). Courtesy of the M. Nakagawa Family Collection. Retrieved from http://ddr.densho.org/ddr/densho/64/5/. Used under Densho Digital Repository Terms of Use: "Free re-use available. This object is protected by copyright, but the rights holder has allowed us to make it available to you for non-commercial, educational projects."
Interview with Elsa Kudo
Elsa Kudo describes the first time she realized that she had been labelled an "illegal entry." Like other Japanese Peruvians, the Peruvian government had stripped of her legal documents and forcibly sent her to the United States. With the war's end she was considered an illegal alien who, despite entering the country on an involuntary basis, could no longer remain. As a Japanese Peruvian resident at Seabrook, she recalls how she was restricted from going into town to buy groceries, and instead had to buy overpriced goods from the company store. "Elsa Kudo Interview Segment 14” (denshovh-kelsa-01-0014). Courtesy of the Densho Visual History Collection, Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project. Retrieved from http://archive.densho.org/Core/ArchiveItem.aspx?i=denshovh-kelsa-01-0014. Used under Densho Digital Repository Terms of Use: http://ddr.densho.org/terms/
Interview with Fred Tadashi Shingu
Fred Tadashi Shingu, who renounced his citizenship and was sent to Tule Lake, discusses relocating to Seabrook Farms after the war. "Fred Tadashi Shingu Interview Segment 26” (denshovh-sfred_2-01-0026). Courtesy of the Densho Visual History Collection, Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project. Retrieved from http://archive.densho.org/Core/ArchiveItem.aspx?i=denshovh-sfred_2-01-0026. Used under Densho Digital Repository Terms of Use: http://ddr.densho.org/terms/