Homeland Insecurity: Aliens, Citizens, and the Challenge to American Civil Liberties in World War II

ISBN-10: 1544824815
ISBN-13: 9781544824819
Series: Homeland Insecurity
Pages: 266
Language: English
Published: 2017-03-25
Author: Stephen Fox

Description

It was a period of American history when the most cherished and basic human rights of our society were trampled, suspended, or ignored altogether -- a time of profiling, FBI bungling, military commissions, secret arrests, suspension of due process and habeas corpus, deportation, extraordinary rendition, second class citizenship and other forms of harassment -- all in the name of homeland security during a war being fought overseas. This sounds very familiar doesn't it? "Homeland Insecurity," a well-written, carefully documented book by award-winning author Stephen Fox, was written to contrast the sometimes draconian, often illegal activities of the Bush administration to protect our citizens after 9/11 with World War II, when families of German and Italian ancestry were systematically relocated, interned, or in some cases, repatriated to a homeland they did not remember or had never visited.Fox's thematic analysis of the impact of the government's actions on the lives of German immigrants is based on an in-depth review of FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service documents. Additionally, of course, the narratives provided by the immigrants themselves enrich this compelling and enjoyable read."Homeland Insecurity" begins with a quote by Jon Carroll which is worth repeating here, "It is said that those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it. I suspect that those who do remember history are doomed to repeat it too. Human nature is human nature, and is an even deeper driving force than memory." Was human nature the driving force behind the actions taken by our government to secure our borders during World War II or the face behind the mask of overzealous prosecutions after the bombing of the World Trade Center? This book is a must read for all Americans concerned about their freedom.