The legislation stated that government actions had been based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership" as opposed to legitimate security reasons.

Some 5,500 Japanese American men arrested by the FBI immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor were sent directly to internment camps run by the Department of Justice,[10] and approximately 5,000 were able to "voluntarily" relocate to other parts of the country before forced evacuations began.

This power was used to declare that all people of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the continental Pacific coast region, including all of Alaska and California, and parts of Oregon, Washington, and Arizona, except for those in government custody.

[12] In 1944, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the exclusion, removal, and detention, arguing that it is permissible to curtail the civil rights of a racial group when there is a "pressing public necessity.

The Japanese American Citizens League introduced a resolution to seek individual reparations at its 1970 conference and soon after began working with community activists and political leaders to lobby for legislative action.

The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians held investigative hearings in 11 U.S. cities, at which more than 750 people provided testimony of their experiences during and after the war.

Although the bill to issue a formal apology and implement the CWRIC's recommendations, introduced in 1987, faced heavy resistance from President Reagan and Senate Republicans opposed to increased federal spending, it was signed into law on August 10, 1988.

[14] Payments to surviving internees or their heirs continued until 1993, overseen by the Office of Redress Administration, one of two government agencies created to carry out the 1988 act's implementation.