This article presents the actions of Representative Alfred James Elliott in relation to the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans. As a member of the West Coast congressional delegation, Elliott was one of the most vocal advocates for forcibly expelling Japanese Americans from California. During the war, Elliott worked with local business leaders to pressure the military to extend the exclusion zone to the eastern parts of Tulare and Kern counties—sites that were initially categorized by the Army as places where Japanese Americans could resettle in order to avoid camp. When the Army began construction of a camp in his home district of Tulare County, Elliott turned the construction project into a political football by accusing the Army of wasteful spending. As the war progressed and Japanese Americans eventually returned to the West Coast, Elliott waged his own unsuccessful campaign to keep Japanese Americans out of Tulare and Kern counties. Based on rigorous archival research, this article offers a new perspective on the government’s handling of the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans by presenting the perspective of a member of Congress.
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