Congress established the Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) grant program (Public Law 109-441, 120 Stat. 3288) for the preservation and interpretation of incarceration sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II. The law authorized up to $38 million for the entire life of the grant program to identify, research, evaluate, interpret, protect, restore, repair, and acquire historic incarceration sites in order that present and future generations may learn and gain inspiration from these sites and that these sites will demonstrate the nation’s commitment to equal justice under the law. 

With the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (Public Law 117-328), Congress reauthorized the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program. This legislation also established the Norman Y. Mineta Japanese American Confinement Education (JACE) Grants; a new category of grants that is administered through the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program.