Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Potentially Dangerous Enemy Aliens: Experiences At Fort Missoula And Transformative Immigration Policy In The United States, Daniel Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this paper, I attempt to comprehend the experiences of Italian and Japanese internees who were detained at Fort Missoula’s Alien Detention Center during World War II. Furthermore, I draw upon historical patterns of United States’ immigration policies that greatly affected perspectives and social values between various ethnic groups. Simultaneously, national immigration policies shifted across space and time reflecting ethnocentric ideals and discriminatory campaigns that altered past cultural, political, and economic landscapes. The events that produced the internment of Italian and Japanese men at Fort Missoula varied greatly and are critical to examine through historical records. Such records pertain to …