Many families arrived to the assembly centers separated. "In some cases, family members, usually the father, had earlier been taken into custody by the FBI" (Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians 1997: 140). Another source of family separation was the WCCA's definition of who was Japanese. Many individuals of mixed parentage had some Japanese ancestors while others were Caucasian but married to someone of Japanese ancestry. The most common source of separation occurred between family members who lived in separate communities. Grown children were sent to different centers if they lived in another community other than their parents.
