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First internees arrive at Kenedy Alien Detention Camp
On this day in 1942, the first group of internees--456 Germans, 156
Japanese, and 14 Italians--arrived at the Kenedy Alien Detention Camp on
the outskirts of Kenedy, Texas. The United States Border Patrol had
entered into an agreement to lease a former Civilian Conservation Corps
camp for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The lease was made
for the purpose of establishing an internment camp for aliens from the
United States and Latin America who were considered dangerous to the
public safety. At the outset of World War II, when conditions were bleak
for the Allies, the U.S. undertook to protect its national interests by
entering into agreement with Latin-American countries to arrest and intern
all resident aliens or citizens of German, Japanese, or Italian descent
who could possibly aid the Axis war effort. From the time the Kenedy Camp
received its first internees until it was converted into a prisoner of war
camp on October 1, 1944, more than 3,500 aliens passed through its gates.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- KENEDY ALIEN DETENTION CAMP
- WORLD WAR II INTERNMENT CAMPS
- KENEDY, TX
- UNITED STATES BORDER PATROL
- CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS
- WORLD WAR II
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- Texas forces win at San Jacinto (1836)
- Legendary lawman joins the Texas Rangers (1906)
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