that led to the forced evacuation of 120,000 japanese-americans and their parents from the west coast. they were ordered from their homes, sent first to assembly centers and then on to ten camps away from the coast on desolate federal lands far from military installations. 120,000 people put behind barbed wire simply because of the color of their skin and a hysteria that grew from ignorance, fear, and racism. actor george takei spent four years in the internment camps and he released a blistering response to the roanoke mayor s statement. there never was any proven incident of espionage or sabotage from the suspected enemies then, just as there has been no act of terrorism from any of the 1,854 syrian refugees the u.s. has already accepted. we were judged based on who we looked like, and that is about as un-american as it gets. joining me now, democratic representative mike honda of california, who was sent to an internment camp when he was nine months old and lived there from
well, i think it is a fair parallel to draw. it has nothing to do with the nazis. it has to do with the reaction of americans to refugees, in that case from the nazis, in this case from isis. and the hysteria was similar. these were people in desperate, desperate need, and people wanted to reject them on the grounds that maybe they were in this case terrorists, in that case communists or whatever. in 1940 president roosevelt proposed a bill to admit 20,000 jewish children who might otherwise perish in the in europe over quota. it was rejected by the congress after a congressman from mississippi got up on the floor of the house and said there may be 20,000 cute kids now but in 15 years there will be 20,000 damn kikes. and that was his direct quote, and it defeated the bill. the exact same hysteria. congressman honda, it seems like the rhetoric in the house and on the campaign trail has
vetting the syrians that are here. they ve been here since 2011 we ve been receiving the syrian refugees, and not one has performed any acts of terrorism. representative mike honda and representative jerry nadler, thanks to you both. thank you. thank you. congressman nadler just spoke about panic. i want to read this quote before we move ahead. truman said, when we have these fits of hysteria, we are like the person who has a fit of nerves in public, when he recovers he is very much ashamed and so are we as a nation when sanity returns. harry truman in his diary writing about the red scare. still ahead how the suggestions of data base and surveillance is similar to the political rhetoric we heard after september 11th and a reminder what that rhetoric led to. that s ahead. compared to the alternatives. push!
had has precipitated in this country a response, a negative response against syrian refugees in this country. and i think that that s got to stop. our system s working in terms of vetting the syrians that are here. they ve been here since 2011 we ve been receiving the syrian refugees, and not one has performed any acts of terrorism. representative mike honda and representative jerry nadler, thanks to you both. thank you. thank you. congressman nadler just spoke about panic. i want to read this quote before we move ahead. truman said, when we have these fits of hysteria, we are like the person who has a fit of nerves in public, when he recovers he is very much ashamed and so are we as a nation when sanity returns. harry trum nn his diary writing about the red scare. still ahead how the suggestions of data base and surveillance is similar to the political rhetoric we heard after september 11th and a reminder
then we should help. we vet them. we make sure nobody is dangerous among them. the danger is people who can come here without any vetting. i think jerry s right. you pointed out that acts of terrorism precipitates this fear against people that we re not familiar with. pearl harbor precipitated the incarceration of japanese-americans. just as the bombing in paris had has precipitated in this country a response, a negative response against syrian refugees in this country. and i think that that s got to stop. our system s working in terms of vetting the syrians that are here. they ve been here since 2011 we ve been receiving the syrian refugees, and not one has performed any acts of terrorism. representative mike honda and representative jerry nadler, thanks to you both. thank you. thank you. congressman nadler just spoke about panic. i want to read this quote before we move ahead.