by Namu Sampath
On February 19, 1942, following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 authorizing the exclusion and forced removal of “resident enemy aliens” (ie., Japanese Americans) from identified military areas in the Western United States. During this time, the civil liberties of Japanese Americans were infringed upon as they were forced to live in prison-like conditions, in addition, were prohibited from having cultural freedom, speaking Japanese, and practicing their own religions.
By definition, Civil Liberties are protections against government actions. For example, under the First Amendment in the United States Bill of Rights,