{"id":133,"date":"2026-05-31T09:38:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T09:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=133"},"modified":"2026-05-31T09:38:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T09:38:43","slug":"why-does-this-nation-of-immigrants-always-imprison-the-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=133","title":{"rendered":"Why Does This Nation of Immigrants Always Imprison \u2018The Other\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<div>\n<article>\n<header>\n<div>\n<ul><li>July 30, 2014<\/li><\/ul><h1>Why Does This Nation of Immigrants Always Imprison \u2018The Other\u2019?<\/h1><h1>Why Does This Nation of Immigrants Always Imprison \u2018The Other\u2019?<\/h1><h2><p>Has the romanticization of American history allowed the resurgence of discriminatory practices in recent episodes of crisis?<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=129\">Claire Denis\u2019s Haunting Neocolonial Drama<\/a><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section>\n<time>July 30, 2014<\/time>\n<div>\n<p>Over a decade has passed since the United States began its &#8220;Global War on Terror,&#8221; a campaign of dragnet surveillance, mass incarceration, drone attacks on individuals overseas and numerous other actions, many illegal according to domestic and international law. These policies are all deemed necessary, of course, for the sake of national security. \u00a0\t\t\t\t\n<p>The United States has always been known as a \u201cnation of immigrants,\u201d a destination for the tired, the poor, the huddled masses to pursue the so-called American dream. But it has been repeatedly consumed by fear of the other. From the Native Americans to late nineteenth-century Chinese immigrants to the Central Americans crossing the Southern border today, there has been a longstanding aversion to and even hatred of ethnic and racial minorities. \u00a0\n<p>It was precisely this fear that led to the relocation of 112,000 Japanese living on the West Coast\u2014at least 70,000 of which were American citizens\u2014to military detention centers during the Second World War. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which mandated that thousands of people be rounded up, solely because of their race.\n<p>In the June 6, 1942, issue of <em>The Nation<\/em>, Charles Iglehart\u2014a former missionary in Japan\u2014wrote about his visit to one of the camps:\n<p><strong>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-131\" height=\"237\" src=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5207158d8ddffefaf0ead65e8edc5ce3.png\" width=\"437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5207158d8ddffefaf0ead65e8edc5ce3.png 437w, https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5207158d8ddffefaf0ead65e8edc5ce3-300x163.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 437px) 100vw, 437px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/strong>\n<p>Iglehart focused specifically on the government\u2019s failure, in the evacuation orders, to distinguish between first-generation Japanese immigrants and their American-born children. This raises important questions about who can claim \u201cAmericanness\u201d in a time of mass hysteria.\n<p>Ultimately, Iglehart concluded that, moral questions to one side, \u201ceven as a war measure evacuation was unnecessary.\u201d\n<p>While disapproving, Iglehart\u2019s piece\u2014like much of <em>The Nation<\/em>\u2019s coverage of internment at the time\u2014was not nearly as critical of Roosevelt\u2019s order as it could have been.\n<p>After taking a look at some of the reporting of the time, I wonder whether the country has learned from past mistakes\u2014or has the romanticization of American history allowed the resurgence of discriminatory practices in more recent episodes of crisis? Not fifty years after the disaster that was Japanese internment, another minority group became the target of mass surveillance during the first Gulf War.\n<p>In the February 4, 1991, issue of <em>The Nation<\/em>, longtime contributor (and Maryland State Senator) Jamin B. Raskin wrote: \u201cI wish the F.B.I agents placing phone calls to Arab-Americans would stroll over to the National Museum of American History in Washington and visit the exhibit on the Japanese internment.\u201d He considered the historical parallels:\n<p><strong>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-132\" height=\"311\" src=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/41cb4267cd429e81320af5656382a402.png\" width=\"621\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/41cb4267cd429e81320af5656382a402.png 621w, https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/41cb4267cd429e81320af5656382a402-300x150.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 621px) 100vw, 621px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/strong>\n<p>Unfortunately, \u201cdeference to the military\u2019s power\u201d all too well explains why in 2014 it is no longer hard to determine whether the Supreme Court would recognize such a policy as unconstitutional. There are still 149 \u201chigh-profile\u201d individuals detained in the extrajudicial prison at Guant\u00e1namo Bay.\n<\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=127\">Black Life and Death in the Age of Obama<\/a><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<footer>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\n                Submit a correction\n            \n<\/li>\n<li>\n\n                Send a letter to the editor\n            \n<\/li>\n<li>\n\n                Reprints &amp; permissions\n            \n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h2><i><span>Your support makes stories like this possible<\/span><\/i><\/h2>\n<p><span>From illegal war on Iran to an inhumane fuel blockade of Cuba, from AI weapons to crypto corruption, this is a time of staggering chaos, cruelty, and violence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Unlike other publications that parrot the views of authoritarians, billionaires, and corporations, <\/span><i><span>The Nation <\/span><\/i><span>publishes stories that hold the powerful to account and center the communities too often denied a voice in the national media\u2014stories like the one you\u2019ve just read.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Each day, our journalism cuts through lies and distortions, contextualizes the developments reshaping politics around the globe, and advances progressive ideas that oxygenate our movements and instigate change in the halls of power.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This independent journalism is only possible with the support of our readers. If you want to see more urgent coverage like this, please donate to <\/span><i><span>The Nation<\/span><\/i><span> today.<\/span><\/p> <\/div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span> Erin Corbett<\/span>Erin Corbett is a freelance journalist covering politics, resistance, and gender. Follow her on Twitter @ErinACorbett.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=125\">Notes From an ICE Chaser<\/a><\/p><br\/><p><span> Back Issues<\/span>Guided tours through the archive of America\u2019s oldest weekly.\r\n<\/p><br\/>\n<\/div>\n<input\/>\n<input\/>\n<\/footer>\n<\/article>\n\n\n\nAd Policy\n<!-- <a class=\"inifiniteLoader\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/images\/new_infi_loader.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a> -->\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Nation Magazine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Does This Nation of Immigrants Always Imprison \u2018The Other\u2019? 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