Lunch Talk: The Detainees of Crystal City

This year, President Trump invoked The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to justify mass deportations. The last time the US used this wartime law was after entering World War II. While people are familiar with Japanese American internment—most don’t know the US also rounded up Germans, Japanese, and Italians living in Latin America. The Roosevelt Administration confiscated their passports, illegally brought them to the US, and interned them in the same camps using the Alien Enemies Act. The goal? To exchange them for US prisoners of war. The biggest and the last camp to close was in Crystal City, Texas.

Join JoAnn DeLuna (Journalism) in conversation with Christina Lee (Spanish and Portuguese; Humanities Council) for this interdisciplinary lunch talk, presented by the Humanities Council’s Program in Journalism. The pair will discuss DeLuna’s recent Radio Diaries story, where she interviewed some of the last surviving internees from Latin America about their astonishing journeys.

Lunch talks are open to University faculty, students, and staff. Space is limited. RSVP required here.

*Please note, RSVP form requires University log-in credentials