Approximate location of the Lordsburg Internment Camp.
Approximate location of the Lordsburg Internment Camp.
Description:
Operated by the U.S. Army, the Lordsburg camp held the U.S. Army’s largest number of Issei internees; the population peaked at 1,500. As opposed to the WRA Relocation Centers, this was a detention facility housing civilians whom the FBI had determined to be potentially dangerous enemy aliens, and deemed their incarceration essential for national security. It was located on 1,300 acres of desert land near Lordsburg in southwest New Mexico. The camp water tank and an adjacent water treatment building, a hospital building, and a warehouse are the only surviving structures.