JACL Decries Former President Donald Trump’s Statement Equating Incarceration of Japanese Americans to Capitol Rioters
October 21, 2024
For Immediate Release
Seia Watanabe, VP Public Affairs, swatanabe@jacl.org
Matthew Weisbly, Education & Communications Coordinator, mweisbly@jacl.org
On Friday, October 15th, 2024, in an online interview, Former President Donald Trump equated the arrest and imprisonment of the rioters arrested at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021 to the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
The JACL vehemently decries the former president’s statement equating the treatment of the imprisoned January 6th rioters to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. Japanese Americans were not afforded due process, were held for years without respect to their constitutional rights, and had their loyalty to the United States questioned purely on the basis of their race. Those arrested following January 6th were indicted and convicted for their committed crimes which serves as the reason for why they remain in prison.
In a statement to the Washington Post, JACL executive director David Inoue stated, “It’s flat-out offensive. It’s a night-and-day difference what happened. Japanese Americans’ whole families were incarcerated without any sort of trial — their only crime was they were of Japanese descent. For these January 6 people, they have had their day in court, they’ve either been indicted or convicted of crimes, and that is why they’re being incarcerated.”
The remarks are especially offensive coming on the heels of former President Trump’s assertion that he will invoke the Alien Enemies Act to initiate his mass incarceration and deportation program, Operation Aurora. The Alien Enemies Act served as the legal basis for the incarceration of not only people of Japanese ancestry but also German and Italians during WWII.
The insinuation that the rioters at the Capitol on January 6th are in any way comparable to Japanese American incarceration is ahistorical. It is insulting to all 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated and their descendants. This revision of recent history serves only to misinform the public and downplay the violence incited by former President Trump at the cost of the memory of Japanese Americans who were denied their constitutional rights.
###
The Japanese American Citizens League is a national organization whose ongoing mission is to secure and maintain the civil rights of Japanese Americans and all others who are victimized by injustice and bigotry. The leaders and members of the JACL also work to promote cultural, educational, and social values and preserve the heritage and legacy of the Japanese American community.
