Editing Italian Americans (section)

==== Wartime violation of Italian-American civil liberties ====
{{Main|Internment of Italian Americans}}
From the onset of the Second World War, and particularly following [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor attack]], Italian Americans were increasingly placed under suspicion. As a consequence, [[Eo 9066|Executive Order 9066]] called for the compulsory relocation of more than 10,000 Italian Americans and restricted the movements of more than 600,000 Italian Americans nationwide,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=David A. |title=During World War II, the U.S. Saw Italian-Americans as a Threat to Homeland Security |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/italian-americans-were-considered-enemy-aliens-world-war-ii-180962021/ |website=smithsonianmag.com |access-date=May 26, 2021}}</ref> and the [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] classified unnaturalized Italian Americans as "[[enemy alien]]s" under the [[Alien and Sedition Act]]. Thousands of Italians were arrested, and hundreds of Italians were interned in military camps, some for up to two years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/Italian_Report.pdf |title=A Review of the Restrictions on Persons of Italian Ancestry During World War II |publisher=US DOJ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709232203/http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/Italian_Report.pdf |archive-date=July 9, 2007 }}</ref> As many as 600,000 others were required to carry identity cards identifying them as "resident aliens." Thousands more on the West Coast were required to move inland, often losing their homes and businesses in the process.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Branca-Santos|first=Paula|date=Spring 2001|title=Injustice Ignored: The Internment of Italian - Americans during World War II|url=http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1207&context=pilr|journal=Pace International Law Review|volume=13|issue=1|page=151 |doi=10.58948/2331-3536.1207 |s2cid=153416867 |doi-access=free}}</ref> They were targeted despite a lack of evidence that Italians were conducting spy or sabotage operations in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why America Targeted Italian-Americans During World War II |url=https://www.history.com/news/italian-american-internment-persecution-wwii |website=history.com |date=January 14, 2019 |access-date=May 26, 2021}}</ref><ref name="internment">Di Stasi, Lawrence (2004). ''Una Storia Segreta: The Secret History of Italian American Evacuation and Internment during World War II''. Heyday Books. {{ISBN|1-890771-40-6}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fox |first1=Stephen |title=Uncivil liberties: Italian Americans under siege during World War II |date=2000 |publisher=Universal Publishers/Upublish.com |location=[Parkland, Fla.] |isbn=978-1-58112-754-6 |edition=[Rev.] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Prisoners {{sic|Amou|ng|nolink=y}} Us Italian American Identity and WWII |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aa1aKXq-fM | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/3aa1aKXq-fM| archive-date=December 11, 2021 | url-status=live|website=youtube.com | date=November 8, 2016 |access-date=May 26, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
On November 7, 2000, [[Bill Clinton]] signed the Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.prisonersamongus.com/StudyGuide.pdf|title=Prisoner's Among Us|publisher=National Italian American Foundation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406082825/http://www.prisonersamongus.com/StudyGuide.pdf|archive-date=April 6, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/106/hr2442/text|title=Text of H.R. 2442 (106th): Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act (Passed Congress/Enrolled Bill version) - GovTrack.us|website=GovTrack.us|access-date=August 16, 2016}}</ref> This act ordered a comprehensive review by the [[United States Attorney General|attorney general]] of the United States of the treatment of Italian Americans during the Second World War. The findings concluded that
# The freedom of more than 600,000 Italian-born immigrants in the United States and their families was restricted during World War II by government measures that branded them "enemy aliens" and included requirements to carry identification cards, travel restrictions, and seizure of personal property.
# During World War II, more than 10,000 Italian Americans living on the West Coast were forced to leave their homes and prohibited from entering coastal zones. More than 50,000 were subjected to curfews.
# During World War II, thousands of Italian American immigrants were arrested, and hundreds were interned in military camps.
# Hundreds of thousands of Italian Americans performed exemplary service and thousands sacrificed their lives in defense of the United States.
# At the time, Italians were the largest foreign-born group in the United States, and today they are the fifth-largest immigrant group in the United States, numbering approximately 15 million.
# The impact of the wartime experience was devastating to Italian American communities in the United States, and its effects are still being felt.
# A deliberate policy kept these measures from the public during the war. Even today much information is still classified, the full story remains unknown to the public, and it has never been acknowledged in any official capacity by the United States government.
In 2010, California officially issued an apology to the Italian Americans whose civil liberties had been violated.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-aug-23-la-me-italians-20100823-story.html|title=State apologizes for mistreatment of Italian residents during WWII|last=Chawkins|first=Steve|date=August 23, 2010|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035|access-date=August 16, 2016}}</ref>