The Civil Liberties Act of 1988

In the 1980s, the third-generation youth joined the Nisei in seeking redress for the injustices suffered by the internees during the war. The lengthy struggle ended in the passage of the Civil Liberties Act, additionally known as the Redress Law. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 granted reparations to Japanese Americans who had been interned by the United States government during World War II. The act granted each surviving internee about $20,000 in compensation, with payments beginning in 1990. The legislation stated that government actions were based on “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership” as opposed to legitimate security reasons. A total of 82,219 received redress checks, including residents of Little Tokyo.

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