Tule Lake Unit , World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument The Tule Lake Unit of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument in Modoc County , California , began as the Tule Lake War Relocation Center before it was renamed the Tule Lake Segregation Center in 1943 , to communicate a fundamental shift that had taken place , distinguishing it from the rest of the American concentration camps for people of Japanese ancestry . From 1943 , Tule Lake Segregation Center operated primarily as the site designated to warehouse inmates who were deemed a threat to the authorities charged with maintaining order in the ten War Relocation Centers . The ' bad and disloyal ' were duly removed from the ' bad but loyal ' and segregated at Tule Lake . Tule Lake Segregation Center was the largest ( in terms of population ) and most controversial of the camps , and did not close until after the war , in March 1946 . Tule Lake was then registered as a California Historical Landmark . In December 2008 , the Tule Lake Unit was designated by President George W . Bush as one of nine sites — the only one in the contiguous 48 states — to be part of the new World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument . History . After the forced removal and incarceration , imprisoned Japanese Americans and resident " aliens " of Japanese descent were expected to answer two questions to determine their loyalty to the United States . Question 27 on the questionnaire asked , " Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty , wherever ordered ? " while question 28 asked , " Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces , and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor , or any other foreign government , power , or organization ? " Over 12 , 000 imprisoned Japanese Americans were defined as disloyal because of their responses to the ambiguously worded , misguided loyalty questions . Many of those segregated to Tule Lake found the loyalty oath ' s questions confusing , while others , certain that they were to be deported to Japan no matter how they had answered , feared that answering the questions in the affirmative would cause them to be seen as enemy aliens by the Japanese . Many chose to answer " no " to both questions in protest of their imprisonment . Statements such as , " I ' ll serve in the Army when my family is freed , " or refusal to answer the loyalty questions led to the government defining them as disloyal . Tule Lake segregation center was turned into a maximum security prison , the most repressive of the government ' s 10 concentration camps . Those who gave unqualified " yes " answers to the loyalty questions had the option of leaving Tule Lake to another WRA concentration camp . Some of the Tule Lake prisoners participated in demonstrations against the incarceration policy at other camps . Many residents had renounced their U . S . citizenship , often due to deception or coercion . Most of the Tule Lake renunciants later had their citizenship restored , largely through the heroic and tenacious efforts of civil rights attorney Wayne M . Collins . Unsanitary , squalid living conditions , inadequate medical care , poor food , and unsafe working conditions had prompted protests at several camps . In November 1943 a series of meetings and protests over poor living conditions at Tule Lake prompted the Army to impose martial law over the camp . Victory for Tule Lake Draft Resisters . " United States v . Masaaki Kuwabara " , was the only World War II era Japanese - American draft resistance case to be dismissed out of court based on a due process violation of the U . S . Constitution ; and a forerunner of the " Korematsu " and " Endo " cases argued before the Supreme Court , later in December that year . Judge Louis E . Goodman went out of his way to help fellow native Californian and lead defendant Masaaki Kuwabara by hand - picking his defense attorney , Mr . Blaine McGowan , who entered a Motion to Quash Proceedings based on the government ' s abrogation of his client ' s due process rights , guaranteed to every American citizen by the U . S . Constitution . Without explicitly describing Mr . Kuwabara as a victim of federal anti - Japanese racism , Judge Goodman viewed the plight of Mr . Kuwabara in this light , and ruled against the United States , which incarcerated the defendant in a U . S . concentration camp ; categorized him as a Class 4 - C Enemy Alien ; and then drafted him into military service . Mr . Kuwabara refused to obey the draft until his rights as an American citizen were restored to him . Recent events . Pilgrimages . Starting in 1974 , Tule Lake was the site of several pilgrimages by activists calling for an official apology from the U . S . government . This Redress Movement culminated in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 . The pilgrimages ( every even year , around the 4th of July ) , serving educational purposes , continue to this day . Federal grant program . On December 21 , 2006 U . S . President George W . Bush signed H . R . 1492 into law , creating the Japanese American Confinement Sites grant program that authorized the appropriation of $ 38 , 000 , 000 in federal grant money to preserve and interpret the system of Japanese American incarceration sites , including the temporary WCCA sites , the ten WRA concentration camps and the Department of Justice internment camps . Terminology . Since the end of World War II , there has been debate over the terminology used to refer to Tule Lake , and the other camps in which Americans of Japanese ancestry and their immigrant parents , were imprisoned by the United States Government during the war . Tule Lake has been referred to as a " relocation camp , " " relocation center , " " internment camp " , " concentration camp " , and " segregation center , " and the controversy over which term is the most accurate and appropriate continues to the present day . Dr . James Hirabayashi , Professor Emeritus and former Dean of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University , wrote an article in 1994 in which he stated that he wonders why euphemistic terms used to describe camps such as Tule Lake are still being used . Hirabayashi went on to describe the harm done by the use of such euphemisms and also addressed the issue of whether or not only the Nazi camps can be called " concentration camps . " In 1998 , use of the term " concentration camps " gained greater credibility prior to the opening of an exhibit about the American camps at Ellis Island . Initially , the American Jewish Committee ( AJC ) and the National Park Service , which manages Ellis Island , objected to the use of the term in the exhibit . However , during a subsequent meeting held at the offices of the AJC in New York City , leaders representing Japanese Americans and Jewish Americans reached an understanding about the use of the term . After the meeting , the Japanese American National Museum and the AJC issued a joint statement ( which was included in the exhibit ) that read in part : The " New York Times " published an unsigned editorial supporting the use of " concentration camp " in the exhibit . An article quoted Jonathan Mark , a columnist for " The Jewish Week " , who wrote , " Can no one else speak of slavery , gas , trains , camps ? It ' s Jewish malpractice to monopolize pain and minimize victims . " AJC Executive Director David A . Harris stated during the controversy , " We have not claimed Jewish exclusivity for the term ' concentration camps . ' " On July 7 , 2012 , at their annual convention , the National Council of the Japanese American Citizens League unanimously ratified the " Power of Words Handbook , " calling for the use of " . . . truthful and accurate terms , and retiring the misleading euphemisms created by the government to cover up the denial of Constitutional and human rights , the force , oppressive conditions , and racism against 120 , 000 innocent people of Japanese ancestry locked up in America ’ s World War II concentration camps . " According to the " Power Of Words Handbook " :