CRYSTAL CITY, Texas — The roundups began in earnest almost immediately after the Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ entry into World War II.

Japanese, Germans and Italians, both foreign nationals and foreign-born American citizens considered potential threats, were rousted from their homes in the U.S. and in Latin American nations friendly to the U.S. and were then shipped to internment camps.

As many as seven camps may have been in Texas where historians are working to gather stories from some of the thousands who were confined and to preserve the few visible signs of the camps.

“What we’re trying to do is show the impact Texas had with these confinement sites and the program in general,” said William McWhorter, coordinator for the History Programs Division of the Texas Historical Commission. “There’s been much written about Japanese-American relocation, and Germans and Italians. But there really hasn’t been an exploration in the state as to how Texas participated.”