The United States was coming out of a depression... JUST BEGINNING to come out of the depression, and as that happened, the war began. The Japanese were interned in an area that some think was not very nice, but in fact, for most Americans, both the area, and the living quarters were better than a lot of people in our country had at that time. So the place was relative, and it is something you have to see for yourself to understand.
It was a separation that was, in part, abusive. At the same time, it was a separation that separated innocent Japanese Americans from very hostile Americans of several races. But also, cured an enormous problem that could not otherwise be cured: it isolated the Japanese in an area where any ability to spy was removed. And there ..were.. spies interned there, and were not identified until after the war.
The Internment of the Japanese was a very, very smart idea in the end. As the brutality of the Japanese Army leadership reached the press, the reaction was ugly. Further, it would have been far, far worse if they had remained in their shops, and homes. In the end, it saved a lot of Japanese American lives as our men walked the Bataan Death March. In the end, the very real heroism of the Japanese American Troops in Italy made the Japanese Americans ... simply Americans and they were deeply appreciated by most who were not affected by the Japanese brutality.
