FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
MONDAY, MAY 22, 1995                               (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
       91 JAPANESE-AMERICANS ELIGIBLE FOR REDRESS PAYMENTS

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Ninety-one Japanese-Americans who were
evacuated from the Iwilei area of Honolulu during World War II
and not allowed to return are now eligible for redress of
$20,000, the Justice Department announced today.
     The Office of Redress Administration of the Civil Rights
Division is responsible for evaluating redress claims.
     "I am pleased that we were able to come to a resolution of
these cases," said Deval L. Patrick, Assistant Attorney General
for Civil Rights. "It's time to bring this chapter to a close for
the Iwilei claimants and to expedite the process for redress."
     Seventy-one of the claimants appealed the initial decision. 
Twenty additional claimants who did not appeal will become
eligible as a result of the decision.  Within the next few weeks,
letters will be sent to newly eligible individuals requesting
that they submit documentation showing proof of their identity
and address in order to receive payment.
     The Iwilei residents' claims of redress were denied after
the Justice Department's Office of Redress Administration
determined that all persons in the entire Iwilei area, not just
those of Japanese ancestry, were forced to leave the area for
reasons of national security and public safety.  The decision to
provide redress was made by the Appellate Section of the
Department's Civil Rights Division which determined that
residents of Japanese ancestry were not permitted to return to
their homes after the evacuation.  All other residents were
permitted to return.
     "We are happy to have reached a resolution in this matter
and we will process these claims as quickly as possible," said
DeDe Greene, ORA Administrator.
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95-287