September 23, 1950: Congress passes, over President Truman’s veto, Public Law 81-831, which includes the Emergency Detention Act of 1950. This act authorizes the implementation of procedures, modeled on those used to incarcerate people of Japanese descent during World War II, which would be used against those, assumed to be Communists or Communist sympathizers, who might commit acts of espionage or sabotage in time or war or national emergency. Congress repealed this law in 1971.