WWII Restriction Zones

During World War II, Italian Americans who did not make an effort to become citizens of the United States were deemed “enemy aliens” and were given restrictions on their civil liberties and other once common daily activities. Despite the large number of Italian American men fighting in the war, the governments’ continuous fear stemming from the attack on Pearl Harbor led to the creation of the Alien Registration Division. Departments of War and Justice in the United States classified any Italian that has not sought citizenship disloyal. Enemy aliens were not allowed to go beyond a five mile radius of their homes and their once safe place called home could be searched at any moment in time. Looking at the Pacific Coast, approximately “10,000 Italian Americans were to move from their homes near strategic waterfront areas” (Laurino 186). The treatment of Italian Americans on the West Coast by the government is a shock because Italians that settled in California write a successful story. The want of harsh and shameful treatment toward Italians comes from Lieutenant General John DeWitt of the War Department’s Western Defense Command because he worked to establish that same treatment of Japanese and German Americans to Italian Americans. To initiate his goal, DeWitt persuades President Roosevelt to put into place a relocation of Italian Americans into “restricted zones on the West Coast” (Laurino 187).

Making their way to Northern California, Italian Americans living in Monterey, Santa Cruz or west of the highway were forced to move. Italians’ success in California began to be erased as they were forced to abandon their homes and jobs. Italian Americans settled in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf could no longer enter the areas near the water where they went to work everyday or lived. Italian American fishermen ignored mastering the necessary requirements for gaining citizenship in the United States. Classified as enemy aliens, Italian Americans were banned from all establishments on the pier, including their own boats and stores. Restrictions resulted in severe consequences and “fishermen were most affected, as 80% of California’s fishing fleet was of Italian descent” (Mauro). Italian fishermen experienced terrible repercussions due to the restrictions of waterfronts. Boats that Italian’s worked on for years, maybe decades, were no longer in their possession; businesses built from the ground up were abandoned.