HI HR139

Hawaii House of Representatives apologizes for past support of the unjust exclusion, removal, and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and for failing to defend their civil rights and liberties during this period.

Honouliuli Internment Camp in Hawaii held approximately 400 internees and 4,000 prisoners of war, with over 2,000 Japanese Americans from Hawaii interned by the end of World War II, despite none being found guilty of sabotage, espionage, or acts against the United States.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, resulting in the incarceration of over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry in ten concentration camps across the western United States and Arkansas.

The 1988 federal Civil Liberties Act found that Executive Order 9066 was caused by "racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership" rather than military necessity, and provided restitution to those incarcerated.

A certified copy of the resolution shall be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Hawaii.