FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1997                        (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                 
      JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SEEKS HELP IN LOCATING POTENTIAL 
        JAPANESE-AMERICAN REDRESS RECIPIENTS BEFORE THE 
                 PROGRAM CLOSES IN AUGUST 1998
     
     WASHINGTON, D.C -- The Justice Department's Office of
Redress Administration is seeking help in locating Japanese-
American individuals who are newly eligible for redress.
  
     "We were given the responsibility under the law to identify
and locate all potentially eligible individuals," said DeDe
Greene, ORA Administrator.  "We hope that with help from the
public and the continued help from Japanese-American community
groups, who have provided invaluable assistance in the past, we
will be able to find more potential recipients."

     A recent court ruling determined that reparations may be
paid to certain children who were born after their Japanese
American parents voluntarily evacuated from the West Coast or
after their parents were released from internment camps.  In the
case, Ishida v. United States, the court held that the children
were "deprived of liberty" and entitled to redress because of
their inability to return to their parent's original place of
residence.  As a result, the Justice Department is now reaching
out to these individuals as possible redress recipients.

     ORA has received claims from about 1,300 persons whose
status may be affected by this case and estimates that many more
may be affected by the new policy.  More specific eligibility
criteria is still under review within the Department and should
be finalized by March.

     The Department also has determined that other individuals
may be eligible for redress as well.  Children under the age of
21, involuntarily returned to Japan during the war, who were not
emancipated and did not enter active military service for the
Japanese Government during World War II, could also receive
reparations.  The Department found that because they were
children, they did not have the capacity to voluntarily choose to
relocate to Japan during the war. 
 
     Some individuals evacuated the West Coast after the issuance
of Executive Order 9066, on February 19, 1942, which gave the
military the authority to institute security measures, and before
March 2, 1942, when the first military proclamations were
implemented in the prohibited zones.  These individuals may have
evacuated as a result of federal government action, and could
also be eligible for redress.  

     As part of ORA's legal obligation under the Act, it is
continuing to search for the remaining internees and evacuees. 
ORA utilized historical records to identify more than 120,000
Japanese Americans who were evacuated, relocated or interned
during World War II.  While approximately 117,000 persons have
been accounted for, more than 3,000 others still have not been
located despite repeated outreach efforts by ORA.  
 
     ORA's outreach efforts have included over 50 workshops,
working with the Social Security Administration, the Departments
of Motor Vehicles in several states, contacting family members,
using a national locator service, and publicizing listings of
names for these individuals.  ORA has accounted for thousands of
persons through these efforts.  In the future, ORA also intends
to publicize the listing of "unknown" individuals in a booklet
format, to attend reunions of internment camps, conferences and
other events to publicize the redress program.

     Those who believe they or someone they know may be eligible
under these categories should contact the ORA Helpline at (888)
219-6900 (toll-free), or write to ORA at P.O. Box 66260,
Washington, DC 20035-6260.  Please provide the following
information to assist us with the verification process: full
name, name used during the internment period, date of birth,
address, telephone number, and place of internment, relocation or
evacuation. 

     ORA is required by law to close on August 10, 1998 and those
who believe that they are potentially eligible for redress should
submit their claims as soon as possible.
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97-041