Governor Polis Statement on Japanese Internment Day of Remembrance

GRANADA, CO — Governor Jared Polis released a statement today in commemoration of this weekend’s Day of Remembrance in honor of the over 120,000 Japanese Americans who were unjustly incarcerated at internment camps across the United States, of whom 7,000 men, women, and children were imprisoned at the Granada Relocation Center in Granada, Colorado at the site of Amache from 1942 to 1945. In the aftermath of Executive Order 9066 issued by President Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorizing “the evacuation of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to relocation centers further inland,” Colorado remembers the distinction of the Amanche site that had the most Japanese American volunteers to enlist in the military and leaders who had the courage to speak out against these atrocities like former Colorado Governor Ralph L. Carr. 

Last year, Governor Polis called on the National Park Service to include the former Amache Japanese Internment Camp Site in the National Park system. This week, the United States Senate passed a bill supporting the Governor’s and the Colorado federal delegation’s efforts, and now awaits President Biden’s signature to become law. 

“Today we remember the inexcusable incarceration of Japanese Americans, a deep injustice, and we honor Japanese Coloradans who were interned at the Amache site by continuing the legacy of leaders who acted to deliver justice. Preserving and protecting the Amache site presents a valuable opportunity to interpret and learn from our past, and tell a more complete story. I am glad to see this site getting ever closer to being rightfully included in the National Parks system.”