On Gila River Indian Community land at Rivers, Arizona, the United States Government established the Gila River Internment Center, one of ten internment centers created during World War II after President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 directing the removal of 110,000 Japanese Americans and their immigrant parents from the West Coast of the USA. Construction began without the community's permission, and the permit for use of the tribal land was reluctantly granted on October 7, 1942, two months after internees had already been moved in; the community later brought claims against the United States in 1971 for failure to comply with the permit's terms agreed to in 1942, and damages were awarded in 1976. The War Relocation Authority named the site Rivers, Arizona in honor of Jim Rivers, the first Pima Indian killed in action during World War I. The center, composed of Canal Camp and Butte Camp, incarcerated persons of Japanese ancestry, most of them American citizens, behind barbed wire under armed military guards without charge, trial, or establishment of guilt, and a total of 16,655 internees were held there at various times from 1942 to 1945. Over 13,000 were sent there; Canal Camp construction began on May 5, 1942, the first internees arrived on July 20, 1942, its population peaked at 5,400 on August 21, 1942, and most of its internees came from central California, while Butte Camp began receiving internees on August 21, 1942, its population peaked at 8,301 on March 21, 1943, and most of its internees came from Central Los Angles and the South Coastal regions of California. Schools in both camps were accredited by the State of Arizona, Canal High School graduated 97 seniors in 1944, Butte High School graduated 136 seniors in 1944, and 872 students graduated from both camps in 1943, 1944, and 1945; the camps also had newspapers and yearbooks, a hospital with a 250-bed capacity at Butte Camp with an annex and clinic at Canal Camp, five Buddhist and Christian churches, and services including a canteen and shoe repair shop. Up to 8,000 acres adjacent to Canal Camp were farmed with 42 varieties of vegetables and livestock, with a dehydration plant, cannery, and vegetable packing shed nearby, and nearly 1,000 internees from both camps worked on the farms. While their families were confined at Gila River, many U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry volunteered or were inducted into the U.S. military, fought on the European and Pacific fronts, and by the time the center closed more than 1,100 internees had entered the military services. Canal Camp closed in October 1945, and Butte Camp and the Gila River Internment Center officially closed on November 16, 1945; the camps remain reminders of how racism, economic and political exploitation, and expediency can undermine constitutional guarantees, and of the need to remain vigilant in protecting rights for all.