And They They Came for Us

After the Trump administration called for a Muslim registry and tried to enact an immigration ban against people from Muslim-majority countries, Trump surrogate Carl Higbie cited the unconstitutional incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II as the precedent. But as the documentary “And Then They Came for Us” amply demonstrates, the registration and incarceration of Japanese Americans was one of the worst violations of constitutional rights in American history. As the U.S. commemorates the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, “And Then They Came for Us” documents - through both contemporary interviews and government-sponsored photos taken by Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, and others - the damage the order did to 120,000 people, two-thirds of whom were American citizens. Featuring actor and activist George Takei and many other Japanese Americans who were incarcerated, the film offers a cautionary tale for our troubled times. (St. Louis International Film Festival)