149. Jessica Lander on the Past, Present, and Future of Immigrant Education in America

In 1919, Nebraska enacted a statute known at the Siman Act, which
restricted the use and study of foreign languages in the
classroom. A year later in Hampton, Nebraska, a parochial school
instructor named Robert Meyer was convicted under the law for
teaching German to a 10-year-old boy. The case made it all the
way to the United States Supreme Court in Meyer v. Nebraska,
which ruled in Meyer’s favor in 1923. The Court declared the law
violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,
which states that no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty,
or property without due process of law.”


On today's show, Jessica Lander discusses her new book Making
Americans: Stories of Historic Struggles, New Ideas, and
Inspiration in Immigrant Education with Maria Corpuz. The book,
which is available now, covers Meyer v. Nebraska and other key
historical moments to look at the past, present and future of
immigrant education in America.