End of WWII & Aftermath
After the Japanese surrendered and the end of WWII, President Roosevelt withdrew Executive Order 9066, and the internees were released from the camps over a period of months to return to their homes. The camps were expensive and cost $210,000,000 just on the first year alone to patrol, run, and maintain. Many Japanese-Americans did not feel welcomed and faced discrimination. Some of them were even threatened with acts of violence. Many Japanese American business owners came back to find their property damaged or sold to others while they were away. Although they were mainly sent to the camps to prevent espionage, none of the spies caught by the U.S turned out to be Japanese-Americans. Fred Korematsu, a Japanese-American who was sent to jail for refusing to evacuate during WWII, decided to challenge the United States' court over the constitutional rights that were being abused against Japanese-Americans in the case known as "Korematsu v. United States". Although he lost the case in a 6-3 vote, the U.S congress apologized for taking away the rights of Japanese-Americans during WWII and awarded each surviving internee $20,000 in 1988. While the camps were never as bad as the Nazi concentration camps, they are still remembered as one of the times when civil liberties in America were voided.