In 1942, the United States government gave the military authority to handle civilians seen as risks to the war effort against Germany, Italy, and Japan. Japanese Americans, mostly from the West coast, were forcibly displaced from their homes and interned in concentration camps. The American government decided that Japanese Americans were torn between allegiance to Japan and their status in America and threatened national security. Due to xenophobic laws and quotas, Issei (first-generation Japanese immigrants) were not allowed to gain American citizenship.

The Tule Lake Internment Camp was one of the concentration camps where Japanese Americans were imprisoned. Tule Lake was opened in May 1942 in California. Throughout its four years in operation, it became the largest and highest security internment camp. Nearing a population of 20,000, Tule Lake was a hotbed of resistance and protest. The camp’s population grew after the initiation of loyalty forms, in which Japanese Americans were asked if they would give up allegiance to Japan. Many Japanese American individuals who answered no were sent to Tule Lake. Tule Lake was the only maximum-security internment camp, and due to disorganization and turmoil, did not close until 1946.

In Thin Wood Walls, the Hanada family is forcibly relocated to Tule Lake.