In Good Conscience:
Supporting Japanese Americans
During the Internment*
by Shizue Seigel
AACP Inc, 2006
320 pp. 100 historic photographs.
Vivid portraits of two dozen teachers, ministers and just plain
olks who stood up against the mass incarceration of Japanese
Americans during World War II. Brings new insight into what can
transform ordinary people into extraordinary advocates for
justice and compassion.
In Good Conscience was a 2002-2006 California Civil Liberties Public Education Fund Project known as The Kansha Project sponsored by the Military Intelligence Service Association of Northern California, an organization of Nisei veterans of the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Service (MIS). *Note: The term "internment" was formerly applied to both the "internment" of Japanese immigrants (citizens of a nation at war with the U.S) and the "incarceration" of American-born children of immigrants, who were birthright citizens unlawfully impassioned without charge.
During World War II, over 110,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from the West Coast and incarcerated for three years or more in ten remote concentration camps. The American public largely ignored the mass removal of their neighbors. The Federal Government justified its actions on the basis of national security, but not a single person of Japanese ancestry living in the U.S. was convicted of a serious act of espionage or sabotage during the war.
The majority of detainees were American-born citizens, and 50% of them were minors.They were given a week or less to pack only what they could carry in two suitcases leave their homes, jobs and schools, and board buses or trains to unknown destinations.
During this time of overwhelming stress, some non-Japanese people reached out. Their kindnesses, large and small, kindled hope and reasserted humanity in the darkest of times.
This website includes chapters from find summaries, reflection questions and download links for entire chapters that shed light on people of conscience and the ways they were able to help.
That courage and compassion is badly needed today. As of January 2026, the Department of Homeland Security reported that over 73,000 immigrants were being held by U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE)., the majority with no criminal convictions. DHS reported that over 2.5 million undocumented immigrants left the U.S. in 2025—over 605,000 forcibly removed or returned by the government and almost 1.9 million self-deporting.
Selected chapters:
Eviction from Terminal Island
"Our Constitution Must Not Be
Tossed Aside"
The Price of Integrity
"God's Sunshine Came In to Stay"
Sense of the Possible
Earl Finch: "The One-Man USO"
The Hannan Family:
Joan of Arc and Her Little Sister
Why the Mainland and Not Hawaii?