Evacuation Claims Act

The Evacuation Claims Act of 1948 was a U.S. law that allowed Japanese Americans, who were interned during World War II, to submit claims for lost property. This act followed Executive Order 9066, issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942, which authorized the exclusion of individuals from designated military areas. Although not explicitly naming Japanese Americans, the order was applied to nearly the entire Japanese American population on the West Coast.

Over 110,000 Japanese Americans were detained in internment camps for years. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled that citizens could not be detained without charges of disloyalty. In 1988, Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act, acknowledging the "grave injustice" done to Japanese Americans and providing reparations.12