Fort Bliss Enemy Alien Detention Site, WWII

FORT BLISS ENEMY ALIEN DETENTION STATION, WORLD WAR II

ON DECEMBER 7, 1941, THE EMPIRE OF JAPAN ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII, AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE UNITED STATES ENTERED WORLD WAR II. ONE U.S. GOVERNMENT RESPONSE BEGAN IN EARLY 1942 WITH THE INCARCERATION OF MORE THAN 120,000 ISSEI (FIRST GENERATION, JAPANESE IMMIGRANTS) AND NISEI (SECOND GENERATION, U.S. CITIZENS) IN WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY CAMPS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THROUGH SEPARATE CONFINEMENT PROGRAMS, THOUSANDS OF JAPANESE, GERMAN, AND ITALIAN CITIZENS IN THE U.S. (AND IN MANY CASES, THEIR U.S. CITIZEN RELATIVES), CLASSIFIED AS ENEMY ALIENS, WERE DETAINED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ) THROUGH ITS ENEMY ALIEN CONTROL UNIT AND, IN LATIN AMERICA, BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE’S SPECIAL WAR PROBLEMS DIVISION. ENEMY ALIENS WERE HELD UNTIL PAROLED OR EXCHANGED FOR U.S. AND ALLIED CITIZENS SEIZED OVERSEAS BY AXIS NATIONS.

TEXAS HOSTED THREE DOJ CONFINEMENT SITES ADMINISTERED BY THE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE (INS) AT CRYSTAL CITY, KENEDY, AND SEAGOVILLE. TEMPORARY ARMY STATIONS, LIKE THE ONE HERE AT FORT BLISS, WERE SET UP AT MILITARY POSTS IN AREAS WHERE THE NUMBER OF ENEMY ALIEN APPREHENSIONS WAS TOO FEW FOR THE INS TO BUILD AND MAINTAIN A FACILITY.

THIS SITE OPENED IN FEBRUARY 1942. THE SQUARE SHAPED CONFINEMENT SITE MEASURED 365 FEET PER SIDE AND ENCLOSED TWO COMPOUNDS WITH A DOUBLE BARBED WIRE FENCE. ARMED GUARDS MANNED ELEVATED TOWERS AT THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE STOCKADE. THE DETENTION STATION HELD LESS THAN 150, PRIMARILY MALE, DETAINEES, WHILE IN USE. HOWEVER, SEVERAL JAPANESE AMERICAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN FROM NEW MEXICO, LEFT DESTITUTE BY THE FATHERS’ ARRESTS AS ENEMY ALIENS, WERE REUNITED AND HELD HERE WITH THEM BEFORE BEING MOVED TO INS CAMPS. THE SITE CLOSED IN NOVEMBER 1942.

TEXAS IN WORLD WAR II – 2013.