Restitution Payments Readied for Oldest WW II Internees

All Japanese-Americans over 80 years of age who are believed to have been interned or relocated during World War II have been contacted by a special Justice Department unit concerning $20,000 restitution payments, officials said Wednesday.

With as much as $500 million in payments to begin in October, the Office of Redress Administration has sent more than 24,000 letters about potential eligibility and has readied 19,000 cases for payment, according to Robert Bratt, administrator for redress.

The funds for the restitution have been appropriated and appear to be “safe” from problems that could arise from the fight over budget-paring, Bratt said.

Under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, each Japanese-American who was evacuated, relocated or interned during the war is eligible to receive $20,000. The law stipulates that payments be made in the order of age, starting with the oldest eligible recipients.

All those born before 1910 for whom ORA has found a current address have been contacted, a spokesman for the office said. The $500-million appropriation could also reach “some 69-year-olds,” Bratt said, depending on how many additional persons in the 70-to-79 age bracket come forward between now and October.

Although ORA believes that it has reached all those who are eligible and over 80, anyone who is overlooked may write: Office of Redress Administration, Over Eighty, P.O. Box 66260, Washington, D.C. 20035-6260. The letter should include the applicant’s full current name and address, name at time of internment, date of birth and telephone number.