March 17, 2025 The German American Internee Coalition strongly condemns the use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 by President Trump and his administration to roundup and deport Venezuelan immigrants. The Alien Enemies Act was last used in World War II to justify the imprisonment and deportation of thousands of German, Japanese, and Italians in […] The post We Condemn Misuse of Alien Enemies Act of 1798 appeared first on German American Internee Coalition ..read more

Mother Jones magazine published an article on March18, 2025, written by Isabela Dias, entitled “The US Used the Alien Enemies Act to Detain Their Families. Now, They are Watching History Repeat.” Featuring the experiences of Heidi Gurcke Donald, who was brought with her family to the U.S. from Latin America, then interned at the Crystal […] The post Mother Jones Magazine Article on Alien Enemies Act appeared first on German American Internee Coalition ..read more

Karen Ebel, President of the German American Internee Coalition, and Grace Shimizu, Director of the Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project and Campaign for Justice: Redress Now for Japanese Latin Americans! wrote an opinion piece for Time magazine, published March 17, 2025—“Our Fathers were Interned Under the Alien Enemies Act. This Law Should be Repealed, not […] The post Time Article about Invocation of Alien Enemies Act appeared first on German American Internee Coalition ..read more

On December 10, 2024, the Brennan Center for Justice hosted “Analyzing Trump’s Plan to Invoke the Alien Enemies Act,” an hour-long discussion about the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, its use in WWII, and its possible use in the Trump administration. Speakers were Katherine Yon Ebright, Counsel, Brennan Center Liberty and National Security Program, Ilya […] The post Analyzing Trump’s Plan to Invoke the Alien Enemies Act appeared first on German American Internee Coalition ..read more

Two German reporters based in the U.S. recently had new reports about WWII German American internment on German radio. San Francisco-based Christoph Droesser’s report, “Unter Naziverdacht: Deutsche Internierte in den USA im Zweiten Weltkrieg,” was followed by “Angst vor deutschen Spionen – US Internieruongslager im Zweiten Weltkreig” in late November. Many may remember Arndt Peltner, also from San […] The post Recent German Radio Programs about WWII Internment appeared first on German American Internee Coalition ..read more

In mid-October, the Brennan Center at New York University School of Law issued The Alien Enemies Act: Unjust, Unnecessary, and Unconsititutional, a report decrying the continued existence of the Alien Enemies Act and calling for its repeal. Katherine Ebright, who works on constitutional war powers at the Brennan Center for Justice, wrote the report and […] The post Clean Repeal of Alien Enemies Act? appeared first on German American Internee Coalition ..read more

Drawing upon a long-suppressed episode in American history, when thousands of German immigrants were rounded up and interned following the attack on Pearl Harbor, In Our Midst follows one family, the Austs, as they struggle to stay together in a new America—one gripped by hatred, suspicion, and fear. Nina and Otto Aust, along with their teenage sons, feel the foundation of their American lives crumbling when, in the middle of the annual St. Nikolas Day celebration in the Aust Family Restaurant, their most loyal customers, one after another, turn their faces away and leave without a word. The n ..read more

Art Jacobs, former internee, U.S. Air Force Major, and educator at Arizona State University, died November 20, 2023, at the age of 90, in Tempe, Arizona. Art was the one of the first former internees to educate the public about internment policies with a website, a book about his family’s experiences, and a lifelong campaign to have the government acknowledge publicly that innocent people of German ethnicity were interned along with Japanese Americans. In a 2010 interview for the Texas Historical Commission, he said: “I would want everybody to remember that Germans, Italians, and Japanese were ..read more

Tracking the Lorenz Family Through Franklin Roosevelt’s Internment by Karl Malek Early in 1942, while World War II was ravaging the globe, my great-grandfather, my great-grandmother, my grandfather, and my great-aunt were being detained by the Peruvian government in Lima. Being Germans, they were deemed untrustworthy potential Nazis by Peru. Their detentions were part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s larger internment program. The United States president cooperated with Latin American republics in the program, bringing their suspected Axis sympathizers to the U.S. My family made up a small part ..read more

The yearly pilgrimage to Crystal City, Texas, by former internees, their families and friends is planned for October 26-29, 2023. This year’s Pilgrimage theme is “Reaching Across Barbed Wire Fences.” In addition to learning about the unique history and stories of survivors of the Crystal City Internment Camp, this year’s Pilgrimage will look at the legacy of solidarity and activism between the internees and the present-day Crystal City community.  A stunning Swimming Pool Memorial Monument will be unveiled at the Crystal City Camp site created by the award-winning Art Director & Desig ..read more