KQED's The California Report Elderly Japanese Americans Warn Same Threats Rising That Led to Internment
Feb 20, 2026
Keith Mizuguchi, a reporter who documented Japanese-American incarceration survivors, guides a historical reckoning. He recounts Executive Order 9066, wartime fear after Pearl Harbor, personal removal and camp stories, and explores modern legal moves seen as echoing that past. Short, urgent, and grounded in survivor testimony.
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Historical Parallels To Present Policies
- Executive Order 9066 led to the incarceration of over 120,000 people of Japanese descent, most of them U.S. citizens, and families never fully recovered afterward.
- Survivors and historians see current policies, like recent use of the Alien Enemies Act and aggressive ICE actions, as having troubling parallels to that history.
Childhood In Freezing Barracks
- Sam Mihara recalled being forced into assembly centers then sent to Cody, Wyoming, where barracks lacked insulation and winters reached minus 28 degrees.
- He described the conditions as horrible and emphasized the severe physical suffering his family endured.
Train Departure And Lasting Loss
- Kiyo Sato, oldest of nine, recounted being forced into Poston, Arizona, and breaking down when the train left.
- She said nobody came to tell them it was a mistake and they could go home.