Executive Order 9066, issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, served the purpose of allowing the forced removal and internment of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast during World War II. The order declared certain areas as military zones, permitting the military to exclude anyone from those areas deemed a threat to national security. Over 120,000 Japanese Americans, including men, women, and children, were forcibly removed from their homes and placed in internment camps for the duration of the war. The order has since been widely criticized as a violation of civil liberties, and in the 1980s, the U.S. government formally apologized and issued reparations to surviving Japanese American internees.
