Letter to Senator William Langer from a group of Ft. Lincoln internees, January 29, 1946—requests help to avoid forced repatriation (provided by an internee family) A petition was also submitted to Congress on January 24, 1947, signed by 156 internees held on Ellis Island, asking for their release, as well as those held in Crystal City and other detention centers. Senator William Langer responded by sponsoring a bill to release all internees still being held three years after Germany surrendered. More information about his attempts to free the internees, (under Post-war Presidential Proclamations and Supreme Court Decision, Ludeke v. Watkins)