Most of the Japanese immigrants and their offspring lived in small, rural farming communities in farming communities in California (93,000 of the total Japanese-American population). The rest were spread out in Washington and Oregon.2 .
These were just some of the injustices that the Japanese-Americans faced in the twentieth century. They had to deal with day-to-day discrimination by the public. This included being turned down for jobs by employers because of their culture, it also included being paid lower wages then white workers for the same kind of work.3 .
As if battling this discrimination day in and day out wasn't enough; after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the lives of the Issei and Nisei got even harder. "On December 7th and 8th, FDR signed proclamations authorizing the FBI to arrest any "aliens" in the continental U.S. whom it deemed "dangerous to peace and safety."4 The news of the "FBI sweep" soon reached every Japanese household.1 Expecting the worst, the Issei destroyed everything in their homes that would give the slightest hint that they were in favor of Japan. No family was prepared for the FBI to come and take them away.1 They had done nothing wrong. .
More than 2,000 Japanese immigrants were "rounded up" from Hawaii and the mainland U.S. before the FBI ended its hunt. They specifically looked for owners of businesses, language school instructors, heads of the community organizations, fisherman, and gardeners. It wasn't until two months later that the government gave the order (called Executive Order 9066) to remove all Japanese families on the West Coast and place them in concentration camps. 2 .
For the women Issei the situation was very hard to endure. Those whose husbands had been taken away were left to run the households if no grown Nisei were present to take over.2 For the women taken to the camps, things were worse. Many could not deal with being uprooted from their homes and their families.