In October 2023, President Joe Biden made a surprise appearance at the National Italian American Foundation’s annual gala in Washington. Biden addressed the audience and touted the contributions of Italians and Italian Americans to the nation and the world. However, despite these accolades for Italians in October, Biden forgot all about the Italians who were placed in internment camps in the United States during World War II, resulting from then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. 

On Feb. 19, Biden issued a statement acknowledging the horrors associated with Roosevelt’s executive order from 1942. He mentioned the Japanese and acknowledged the injustices they suffered as a result. Unfortunately, he said nothing about the people of Italian descent who were also forced into internment camps.