00:00At that time to incarcerate our entire community were really based on false narratives and
00:06ultimately it was about a political agenda and I think that is very much what we are seeing playing
00:12out today. And John a moment ago we just saw a black and white picture of a young man that I'm
00:17told is your dad. How old was your dad at that time? He was 17 years old when he was forced into
00:26incarceration. Obviously became an adult while he was incarcerated for four full years and those
00:35scars ran very deep. I don't think anybody who went through that experience ever fully recovered about
00:44it. Many in his generation never spoke about it to their family members and you know that trauma
00:51it's been well documented has multi-generational impacts and certainly has driven a lot of the
00:59work that I've done to ensure that this country is educated about what took place, about the fact
01:09that this government has acknowledged that that shameful chapter in American history was based on
01:16racism and a failure of political leadership and the fact that frankly in 1942 it was politically
01:24popular to round up Japanese Americans and incarcerate them. And it is extremely distressing to see that
01:33that is exactly where our country is right now. It has nothing to do with these immigrants and whether
01:40or not they have committed crimes. We see that with many who are trying to follow the lawful procedures
01:47of this country by seeking asylum. They're being ripped out of courtrooms. So it has nothing to do with
01:53whether or not immigrants are trying to lawfully be in this country. There is an all-out assault on
02:01immigrants and you know frankly it is a very dark time in this country once again.
02:09John Osaki thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for helping to put things in perspective
02:14as well as bring context to the parallels of what happened during World War II and now today.
02:22Appreciate you.
02:22...manitarian concerns over the site. The Trump administration has dubbed the facility
02:27Alligator Alcatraz since it's located deep in the marshy wetlands of the Everglades
02:33surrounded by dangerous wildlife. CNN's Rafael Romo is joining us right now. What more can you tell
02:38us about the tour? Did it happen? Are they getting access? And then what have they seen?
02:43Well they get in. That much we know and they're slowly coming out and making their statements.
02:48But this is something that happened because after being denied access to the immigrant detention
02:53facility several Florida state lawmakers sued Governor Ron DeSantis and his director of the
02:59Florida Department of Emergency Management Kevin Guthrie who runs the site. In the lawsuit the
03:03legislators say they have the legal right to have unannounced access to all the facilities recently
03:10built at the Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport dubbed the Alligator Alcatraz Detention Center
03:16adding that both DeSantis and Guthrie quote have exercised the governor's emergency powers beyond their
03:23authority. The Florida Division of Emergency Management agreed to host the tour of the
03:28facility today between 11 a.m. and 12 30 p.m. Eastern Time but only for Florida state legislators
03:35and members of Congress. Lawmakers like Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz a Democrat say they have
03:42heard from relatives of those detained as well as immigrant rights groups that the detainees are
03:48enduring things like bugs in their food an infestation of mosquitoes sleeping with the lights on and not
03:55getting access to an attorney. This is what Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz had to say before trying to get
04:01access to the site earlier today. The conditions that we saw inside this internment camp which it is
04:11is nothing less than that description were were really appalling. These detainees are living in cages. I, I, I, the, the, the
04:22pictures that you've seen don't do it justice. They are essentially packed into cages, wall to wall humans, 32 detainees per cage.
04:35Again, this happened in just a few moments ago after all these lawmakers came out. Then earlier this week, Fred, I
04:44spoke with a Guatemalan woman whose husband is detained that alligator Alcatraz. Among other things, she told me her
04:50husband is enduring mosquitoes, unbearable heat and humidity, insufficient washing facilities, hard beds and bad food. She
04:58also told me her husband was only able to take one shower in a six-day period and that he has not had
05:05access to an attorney so far. On Thursday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said people need to remember he
05:12said that alligator Alcatraz is not a hotel. Let's take a listen.
05:18It is a center to process illegal aliens and then to provide a pad to deport them from the
05:26runway that's right there. We did not create the four seasons. That's not the intent of this.
05:32All the standards are a lot higher than what was even required.
05:37And Fred, in addition to the current heat and humidity inside the tents and the abundance of
05:41mosquitoes, immigrant rights groups also worry about the opening of a migrant detention center in the
05:46middle of a hurricane season. We were talking about it a couple of hours ago. One of the lawmakers said
05:52that's precisely the question he has. What's going to happen if there's a hurricane, if there's a
05:57powerful storm? Right, because it's very early on and usually that route is usually two lane in most
06:02places, you know, in order to get to that location around the Everglades. And so it would be a difficult
06:09way to get out quickly. Especially for a lot of people.
06:12Some people. Yes. All right. Thanks so much, Rafael. Appreciate it. All right. The opening of this
06:18controversial detention center in the Florida Everglades is bringing up painful reminders of
06:23detention camps from the past for some Americans, specifically Japanese-American internment camps,
06:31which the U.S. government set up during World War II when the government forcibly relocated and
06:36incarcerated more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent. I'm joined now by John Osaki.
06:42He is the executive director of the Japanese Community Youth Center in San Francisco. John,
06:46good to see you. Thanks for having me. So you're not alone in seeing these deep parallels between
06:53the so-called alligator Alcatraz and the targeting of Japanese Americans during World War II who were
06:59rounded up, incarcerated. You heard Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz just a moment ago who is
07:06touring the facility there in the Everglades. So talk to me about the parallels you're seeing and how
07:11this is really turning up some very disturbing emotions.
07:18Well, in 1942, Japanese-Americans were criminalized based solely on their race. And it is extremely
07:27disturbing for many in our community to see immigrants being criminalized. It has nothing to do with whether
07:34or not they have actually committed a crime. And there are many painful memories that are coming
07:41up for many in our community, the lack of due process, the fact that folks are being rounded up
07:47indiscriminately. And our community has worked for decades to try to ensure that this shameful chapter in
07:56American history did not repeat itself. And so it is horrifying for many of us to see that that is
08:03exactly what is happening. And then tell me, too, how in many Japanese-American households, I mean,
08:08these scars are deep. I mean, the trauma is still felt, you know, from World War II. And to only hear about
08:14what is happening now just seems to stir up some of those same feelings.
08:20Well, my mother and father were both incarcerated during World War II. And they had never been to Japan. They
08:32had no connection to the Japanese Imperial military. And they were their only crime was being Japanese at
08:40that time. And I think what is so disturbing to so many of us in our community is the fact that
08:49there are no charges being leveled other than people being immigrants. In this case, there is no due
08:57process for them. That's what happened to many of the individuals in our community who were had no trials.
09:07There had no charges at the time. And in fact, you know, it came out later that
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