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November 19, 2015

VA: Mayor Cites Japanese Prison Camps to Justify Refugee Restrictions 
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Meanwhile, Mayor David Bowers of Roanoke, Virginia, has sparked outrage
after he cited the widespread internment of Japanese Americans during
World War II in order to justify suspending the resettlement of Syrian
refugees to his city. Democratic Mayor David Bowers wrote in a
statement, "I'm reminded that President Franklin D. Roosevelt felt
compelled to sequester Japanese foreign nationals after the bombing of
Pearl Harbor, and it appears that the threat of harm to America from
Isis now is just as real and serious as that from our enemies then." The
U.S. government has issued a formal apology and paid reparations to some
of the more than 120,000 Japanese Americans who were illegally interned,
two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens. In response, Japanese-American
actor George Takei, best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu on the
television series "Star Trek," wrote: "My family and I spent 4 years in
prison camps because we happened to look like the people who bombed
Pearl Harbor. It is my life's mission to never let such a thing happen
again in America."

 

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