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?
Port of No Return: Enemy Alien Internment in World War II New Orleans
Miller, Marilyn Grace. Port of No Return: Enemy Alien Internment in World War II New Orleans. LSU Press, Baton Rouge, LA, 2021. One of two principal ports through which enemy aliens might enter the United States, New Orleans saw the arrival of thousands of Latin...
Marilyn Miller, Author, Discusses “Port of No Return,” book about Camp Algiers, LA
Louisiana State University Press hosted a May 2021 discussion of Port of No Return; Enemy Alien Internment in World War II New Orleans with author Marilyn Miller, associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Tulane University.
Newly Published: “Port of No Return” by Marilyn Miller
Marilyn Grace Miller, associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Tulane University, recently published Port of No Return: Enemy Alien Internment in World War II New Orleans, the story of New Orleans’s key role in the complex secret...
The War Outside
The War Outside. Hesse, Monica. New York, Little, Brown and Co. 2018. New from Monica Hesse, the bestselling and award-winning author of Girl in the Blue Coat--an "important" (New York Times Book Review), "extraordinary" (Booklist, starred review) novel of conviction,...
Ft. Meade guard tower. Image from sketch by German internee Paul Lameyer, courtesy of his grandson, Randy Houser.
History
