Senate passes bill to make former internment camp national historic site

The Senate on Monday passed a bill to make a former Japanese American internment camp in Colorado a national historic site. 

The bill would establish the Amache National Historic Site, a former Japanese American incarceration facility located outside Granada, in southeast Colorado, as part of the national park system. The legislation last year passed the House and was shepherded by Colorado Reps. Joe Neguse (D) and Ken Buck (R).

Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet (D) and John Hickenlooper (D) celebrated the bill’s passage of the Senate.

“The incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II at sites like Amache is a shameful part of our country’s history. Our bill will preserve Amache’s story to ensure future generations can learn from this dark chapter in our history,” Bennet said.

Camp Amache was one of several Japanese American incarceration facilities across the country during World War II.

The bill’s passage comes just before the 80th anniversary of the executive order that led to the forced internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans on Feb. 19, 1942.

“The Amache site as a National Park unit highlights the injustices of the internment of Japanese Americans, one of our nation’s darkest chapters,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said in a statement. “Colorado is home to world-class national parks and adding the Amache site honors those values and our history.”