Set in World War II, but with an eye to the present and future, Homeland Insecurity offers a unique, thematic commentary on the experiences of men and women of Italian and German ancestry who were relocated, interned, or excluded. Award-winning author Stephen Fox mines government documents—especially those of the FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service—to analyze the impact on detainees and their families of profiling, FBI bungling, military commissions, secret arrests, suspension of due process and habeas corpus, deportation, extraordinary rendition, second-class citizenship, and other forms of harassment.
Homeland Insecurity showcases the selective embrace of historical lessons. During the
war, policymakers, the media, and the public chose only the message that supported
their assumptions. When this lack of judgment coincided with the prejudices and
insecurities of J. Edgar Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt, the result was tragic: an
assault on the Bill of Rights, the ruin of countless reputations and family wellbeing,
and lost lives.
Told through intimate stories of men and women of European ancestry, Homeland Insecurity questions whether this assault on constitutional and civil liberties can and will be repeated.
Historical memory and the messages we derive from the past are selective. By now, nearly everyone is familiar with George Santayana’s warning that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. But which past? Intolerance or regret? Remorse ought to be as indelible as the customary reaction to danger. So why are the pangs of guilt so much less influential than panic?
This chronicle of homeland insecurity and the challenge to American civil liberties in World War II is told through the intimate stories of men and women of European ancestry. The book contains chapters on different legal, constitutional, and moral issues resulting from government policies. Nearly all arrests were carried out in secret, most suspects never knew why they had been arrested, when they were to be released—or why. Most were denied due process, and most who were incarcerated for months or years were being punished for reasons other than any danger they represented. Additional chapters cover extraordinary rendition, repatriation, and exclusion—other manifestations of harassment—that cover unique circumstances and were experienced by a select group.
With this book, I step away from a strict chronology and translate those events into a broader, thematic framework: the influence of historical precedent on domestic security practices, and the contest between security and the Constitution that is the heart of the story.
Stephen Fox is the award-winning author of monographs and articles on Italian and German Americans. His previous book, Fear Itself: Inside the Roundup of German Americans during World War II, was published by iUniverse in 2005. He and his wife, Françoise, live near the sea in California’s redwood country.
