From 1942, the U.S., with the cooperation of Peru and twelve other countries in Latin America, forcibly uprooted over 2,200 Latin American citizens and residents of Japanese ancestry and incarcerated them in the U.S. internment camps.These internees were to be held as potential hostages to be exchanged for U.S. prisoners of war held by the Japanese Imperial Army. In fact, more than 800 Japanese Latin Americans (JLA) were used for this purpose.
After WW II, most of the remaining JLA were not allowed to return to their native countries, but were deported to war-devastated Japan, where they suffered tremendous hardship.