U.S. reviewing WWII treatment of Italian-Americans

By CNN's Terry Frieden at the Justice Department

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Justice Department has begun a review of the treatment of Italian-Americans by the U.S. government during World War II, officials announced Tuesday.

The study required by a law Congress passed last year will document arrests, internments, raids on homes, seizure of property, expulsion orders and other restrictions, according to Civil Rights officials.

"The story of the treatment of Italian-Americans during World War II needs to be told, to remember those whose freedoms were violated and to prevent such injustice in the future," said William Yeomans, acting assistant attorney general for civil rights.

Congress used similar language in enacting a law last year in response to lobbying by several organizations within the Italian-American community.

In the law, Congress estimated the U.S. government had restricted the freedom of more than 600,000 Italian-born immigrants during the war.

More than 10,000 Italian-Americans living on the West Coast were forced to leave their homes. More than 50,000 were subjected to curfews.

The Act, sponsored by Sen. Robert Toricelli, D-New Jersey, also said the United States had confiscated boats of Italian-American fishermen and barred them from certain jobs including working on railroads.

The Justice Department said its report covering the period September 1939 to December 1945 will be completed by early November.

The law requires the Justice Department to list the names of Italian-Americans who were targets of government actions, including FBI raids on private homes.

The Justice Department urged individuals who have knowledge of incidents that affected Italian-Americans to contact the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division by September 1.

Officials said details regarding the law and the type of information sought are available at the Civil Rights Division Web site at www.usdoj.gov/crt/wviacla.htm.

U.S. Civil Rights Division

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