The
Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is a membership organization
whose mission is to secure and maintain the human and civil rights
of Americans of Japanese ancestry and others victimized by injustice.
The JACL has 112 chapters nationwide and eight regional districts
with over 24,000 members found in twenty-three states. In addition
to its national headquarters in San Francisco, the JACL has five
regional offices (Los Angeles, Fresno, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago),
as well as an office in Washington D.C. and an organizational newspaper,
the Pacific Citizen, distributed nationally from its office in Los
Angeles. The JACL derives its effectiveness through its regional
offices located in key cities and areas to serve the needs of the
organization's members and to maintain the well-being of all Asian
Americans.