 One of seventeen such sites overseen by the Wartime Civilian Control Administration, the Salinas Assembly Center was built after President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, authorizing the removal and confinement of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast.The camp opened on April 27, 1942 and held a total of 3,608 people before closing two months later on July 4.Most came from the Monterey Bay area and were transferred to the Poston concentration camp, located on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in Arizona.