Tuesday was a good day for Kansas. It started out a bit shaky when I read in the Journal-World that Rep. Ann Mah, whose district includes a portion of Douglas County, voted in favor of sending a measure to repeal in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants to the full House. She explained that she had polled her district and a majority want to repeal the law. Ms. Mah later voted in the full House not to repeal the tuition measure.

What I found disturbing was the reaction from many to the article in the Journal-World. Online comments included: “Not only should we send back all the illegals we drum up, we should send back the legals too. I can’t tell the difference between ’em, can you?” “Punish the vermin. Throw them over the border. Build a wall. If that doesn’t stop them, build a mine field or something.” “Not all the illegals are lazy but yes they all are parasites. They’re sucking the life(money) from the body(economy).”

Such statements of hatred lead me to ask, if a majority of constituents tell their representatives that they want people of color moved to the back of the bus, will they honor the bigotry that may exist in their districts? I also find it troubling that some of us who attend services on Sunday to worship God, who loves all people, can exit with anti-immigrant feelings and ignore Exodus 22:21-23: “Do not mistreat an alien, or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt. Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.”

Some people say that the tuition break is not rooted in bigotry but rather, is unconstitutional and not equitable. But U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers ruled the student plaintiffs had no standing to sue because they weren’t directly harmed by the law. In addition, it is difficult to prove that the law is not equitable since any individual can apply for in-state tuition once they have established residency in Kansas.

To date, 221 undocumented students have applied for the tuition break; 94 of those are studying at Seward County Community College in Liberal. These students paid tuition of $40 per credit hour compared to $63 for out-of-state students, a difference of $23. They have attended a Kansas high school for at least three years and have graduated or earned a General Education Development certificate in Kansas. Also, they must actively be seeking legal immigration status or plan to do so when they are eligible.

Still others claim that if the bill does not violate the law then surely the law is detrimental to the economy of Kansas. Let’s look at California, the state with the largest population of undocumented immigrants. Yes, California spends $10.5 billion annually on undocumented immigrants, but California also boasts the sixth largest economy in the world. The dominant industry in California, more than twice as large as the next, is agriculture which employs more immigrants, documented and undocumented than any other industry. California agriculture brought in $27 billion in revenue in 2000 alone.

Also, research indicates that the 35.3 million Hispanics in the United States have a purchasing power of nearly $700 billion and is projected to reach as much as $1 trillion by 2010. It is estimated that the numbers are discounted by 6 percent due to illegal immigration yet undocumented workers also contribute to the exploding Hispanic purchasing power in the U.S.

So what are Kansans to do? I suppose the Kansas Legislature could have prohibited the 221 students from obtaining an affordable education. However, a majority understand that an educated society is a prosperous society.

For those who disagree with aiding these Kansas students, perhaps a stronger stance is required. Maybe we should stop taking vacations as our hotel rooms may have been cleaned by immigrants, documented or undocumented. We also should refrain from eating at restaurants as our dishes may have been bussed and washed by immigrants, documented or undocumented. Heck, let’s stop eating all together as our beef may have been butchered and packed by an immigrant, documented or undocumented.

Tuesday our Legislature opted for a better solution. By turning back an attempt to repeal a law giving undocumented students a tuition break, the House demonstrated that Kansans can return to that progressive age where they took the narrow road and supported those who had the greatest needs. It was the moral thing to do. Kansans proved that they can lead by example by welcoming those who struggle to achieve a meager existence.

It was indeed a good day for Kansas because Kansans acted not of arrogance and aggression, but with compassion, justice and grace – for such values are what brought many people to this land to begin with.