President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order No. 9066 was issued on February 19, 1942, during World War II. This order authorized the Secretary of War and military commanders to designate military areas from which any or all persons could be excluded. As a result, it was primarily used to facilitate the internment of Japanese Americans, as well as individuals of Japanese descent, in various internment camps across the United States.
The order was justified by the government as a necessary measure for national security, amid fears of espionage and sabotage following the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, it led to the forced relocation and internment of about 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens. The internment is now widely recognized as a grave injustice and a violation of civil liberties. In 1988, the U.S. government formally acknowledged this wrongdoing and issued reparations to the surviving internees.
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