FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1995                             (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


    JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SEEKS HELP IN LOCATING MORE THAN 4,000 
        POTENTIAL JAPANESE-AMERICAN REDRESS RECIPIENTS


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Over 4,000 Japanese-Americans who are
potentially eligible for redress payments of $20,000 each might
not even know it -- and the Justice Department is asking for help
locating them.
     Under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, individuals who were
interned, relocated or evacuated during World War II were
declared eligible to receive redress payments, provided they were
alive on August 10, 1988, when the law went into effect.
     At the start of the redress program, the Department's Office
of Redress Administration (ORA) identified about 120,000
interned, relocated, or evacuated Japanese-Americans through
historical records.  While 115,600 persons have been accounted
for, more than 4,000 others still have not been located despite
repeated efforts by ORA.
     To locate the potential recipients, ORA has sent letters to
family members asking for information about their missing
relatives, worked with the Social Security Administration to
track down possible recipients, provided names and birth dates to
a national locator service, and requested death records from
various states to identify individuals who may have died since
the law went into effect.
     "The Japanese-American community always has shown great
interest in helping our office locate individuals and has
provided invaluable assistance in the past,"  said DeDe Greene, 
ORA Administrator.  "With the continued help from community
groups, we hope to find more potential recipients."
     "We were given the responsibility under the law to identify
and locate all potential individuals," added Greene.  "We hope
that with the assistance of the Japanese-American community, we
will finally be able to locate these potentially eligible
recipients."   
     Anyone who believes they might be eligible for redress may
apply.  To contact ORA, call the Helpline at (202) 219-6900, or
write to the Office of Redress Administration at P.O. Box 66260;
Washington, D.C. 20035-6260.  Anyone contacting ORA should
provide the following information to assist in the verification
process:  full name, name used during the internment period, date
of birth, address, telephone number, and place of internment,
relocation, or evacuation.  Partial information is helpful as
well.
     Since the law went into effect, the government has paid out
over $1.59 billion to 79,565 recipients.
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