About Us
The German American Internee Coalition (“GAIC”) was formed in 2005 by and for German American and Latin American citizens and legal residents who were interned by the United States during World War II. We are former internees, or their families and friends. We come from all walks of life and from countries around the world. We would like you to know our story. GAIC is a nonprofit corporation registered with the New Hampshire Department of Charitable Trusts.
Our Mission Statement & Goals
GAIC is dedicated to making public the little known United States World War II policies that led to internment, repatriation and exchange of civilians of German ethnicity, both in the United States and Latin America.
- We will educate the general public about the U.S. government’s detention and internment of over 11,000 German American and Latin American citizens and residents during World War II.
- We will reach out to former internees, their families and supporters. We will gather their stories, share information, and support their efforts to make their stories known.
- We will seek full U.S. government review and acknowledgment of the civil rights violations endured by the German American and Latin American communities.
- We will work collaboratively with other internee groups who have similar purposes. As we work toward these goals, we also hope that our efforts result in better protection of the civil liberties of future vulnerable ethnic groups.
In February 2017 we became concerned by the then President and his administration’s actions regarding immigrants. Our concerns have deepend. On March 15, 2025, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, stating that an “invasion” by a Venezuelan gang made it necessary. This allowed the administration to treat some immigrants as alien enemies, stripping them of their rights, rounding them up and deporting them to El Salvador. The Alien Enemies Act, designed for wartime use against foreign adversaries, has no place in modern immigration policy. It is time for it’s repeal. Read our statement of condemnation.
What’s New?
Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition Receives New Funding
On June 8, 2017, the Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition was awarded $54,000 by the National Park Service, which administers grants from the Japanese Confinement Sites Grants Program. These funds will be used to continue their work documenting the history of the...
“Train to Crystal City” shortlisted for Dayton Literary Peace Prize
The Train to Crystal City, by Jan Jarboe Russell, has been shortlisted for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the only literary prize in the U.S. that recognizes the value of literature to help promote peace and reconciliation throughout the world. The winner will be...
Daily Life at Crystal City Internment Camp
Have you ever wondered what daily life was like for internees held in a WWII internment camp in the U.S.? Caitlin T. Dietze's thesis, “Daily Life at Crystal City Internment Camp 1942-1945” (2016), was recently published on-line by the University of New Orleans. She...
12 Dec 1942, Marshall Memo: shipping Latin Americans for exchange with Axis Nations
George Marshall Memo, 12 Dec 1942 Box 71, Subject Files, 1939-1954, Box 7; Accession Job No. N3-59-87-15, Records of the Special War Problems Division, Department of State, NA (?) — shipping of Latin Americans/exchange with Axis nations
Ft. Meade guard tower. Image from sketch by German internee Paul Lameyer, courtesy of his grandson, Randy Houser.
History
