Neguse, Buck Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Designate Amache Incarceration Site in Colorado as National Historical Site

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Joe Neguse, Chair of the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands and Congressman Ken Buck introduced bipartisan legislation to designate the Amache incarceration site in Southeast Colorado as a National Historical Site. During the first months of World War II, the United States initiated the single largest forced imprisonment in its history when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order forcing more than 120,000 people, primarily of Japanese descent, to relocate to 10 remote, military-style prisons. The Granada Relocation Center in the southeast corner of Colorado, known as Amache, was one of these 10 incarceration centers. Two-thirds of the people at Amache were American citizens. Most had never been to Japan. Many others were first-generation Japanese elders who had immigrated from Japan and were denied U.S. citizenship for decades. Most were given a week or less to dispose of everything they owned, with no idea where they were going or what would happen.

As Chair of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, Congressman Neguse plans to bring the bill up for consideration at an April 21st legislative hearing.

“The unjustifiable internment of Japanese Americans is no doubt one of the darkest scars in our country’s history. With the Amache site in Colorado, it is also a deeply personal history for Colorado, ” said Congressman Joe Neguse. “Designation of the Amache site in southeast Colorado as a National Historical Site, will provide education for future generations on this dark time in our nation’s history, as well as healing and honor to those that lived it. It is our hope that preservation of this site will provide reconciliation for our communities and for the nation.”

“I am proud to introduce the Amache National Historic Site Act with Rep. Neguse because it is so important that we remember the injustices committed against Japanese Americans,” Rep. Ken Buck said. “The nation is better today because of the lessons we have learned from our past. Preserving Amache serves as one of those hard lessons for the people of Eastern Colorado and the rest of our nation.”

“The Amache Preservation Society has always wanted to do what was best for the Japanese American families that had to endure Amache. It is for this reason that we feel that it needs to become a part of the National Park System. For the sake of our country and the future of our children, I urge Congress to pass the Amache National Historic Site Act,” said John Hopper, of the Amache Preservation Society and Granada School District.

“As America's storyteller, what the National Park Service chooses to preserve and the stories it chooses to tell reflects our values as a nation,” said Tracy Coppola, Colorado Program Manager, National Parks Conservation Association. “The Amache story deserves to be told in its fullest form—before, during, and after the war, resonating to this day. The Amache National Historic Site Act brings the hope of preserving and protecting this story, while challenging us all to reflect, heal, and act toward a better future where justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are our nation’s top priority. Amid today’s, and yesterday’s, scourge of Anti-Asian Pacific Islander hate crimes, we need this more than ever. I call on Congress to pass the Amache National Historic Site Act.”

“Preserving and protecting the Amache site is a key opportunity toward the critical goal of enhancing the goal to interpret and investigate our past by telling a more complete story of Colorado and our nation,” said Derek Okubo, Amache descendant. “In doing so, we will ensure that this stain on our nation’s history is never repeated. I call on Congress to pass the Amache National Historic Site Act.”

“We strongly support the Amache National Historic Site Act. This legislation will preserve and memorialize a site that has the power to shed light upon a mistake we must remember, recall the service and sacrifice of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and celebrate the Constitutional vision of Colorado Governor Ralph Carr. All these things are worthy of doing and doing so will make us better American Citizens,” said Calvin Taro Hada, president of the Japanese Association of Colorado.

The Amache Preservation Society, along with the support of other organizations, currently maintains the physical site of Amache. They have renovated the cemetery, established an Amache Museum and research center, restored key Amache landmarks, including the water tower, a guard tower, and barrack. Learn more about the site’s timeline here.

Read the bill text here.

View quotes of support here.

###