At St. Mary's Catholic Church in the Central Area, where noon Mass is delivered in Spanish, people know that if they need help with food, rent or household supplies, they need only ask.

And staff members at St. Mary's know — they don't need to ask — that many of the 500 or so families and individuals they serve each year are in this country illegally.

"All we do is offer them help," said manager Alicia Gonzalez-Capestany. "It's our duty."

But some in Congress debating U.S. immigration reform think the kind of help St. Mary's and other organizations offer up is tantamount to aiding and abetting illegal immigrants.

And federal legislation being considered in the Senate would penalize scores of them for assisting illegal immigrants, even their family members. The very idea has propelled the Catholic Church into the politics of immigration — easily one of the most contentious social issues in the country.

In Seattle, immigration change has brought an unusual coalition of business, labor and church groups together with illegal immigrants and their advocates in a call for what they consider fair and comprehensive reform. The Seattle City Council this week passed a resolution in support of that. And a Saturday march and rally calling for balanced reform is planned.

At the center of the debate is legislation in Congress to overhaul current immigration laws for the first time in 20 years by controlling the flow of newcomers and dealing with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already living here. Polls show that most Americans favor immigration enforcement.

One bill, sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., which the House passed in December, is an enforcement-only measure that deals with border security and does not include a guest-worker provision that President Bush has asked for. That provision would allow foreigners to work legally in the country for a specified time and then return home.

Specter bill

That bill must be reconciled with a second measure, sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., now under debate in the Senate. Supporters say it offers more of a mix of enforcement and immigration allowances, including the guest-worker provision.

But while the Senate measure enjoys broader acceptance than the House bill, it includes elements that worry immigrant-rights advocates and businesses. It would impose penalties on those who hire and help illegal immigrants. It would also criminalize the act of illegal immigration and would offer no path to legal residency.

Congress is struggling for consensus. Specter's and Sensenbrenner's bills have angered their Republican business constituents, who worry about the implications on their labor supply and about the burden of checking documents of potentially illegal workers.

"We need comprehensive reform: You can't provide a pathway to citizenship unless you reduce the backlogs" — those waiting for legal entry, said Pramila Jayapal, executive director of Hate Free Zone Washington.

"You can't talk about border enforcement without addressing civil liberties and civil rights," she said. "You can't talk about having a work force that is largely immigrant if you don't talk about making sure people have rights on the job — regardless of their status."

But the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that favors strict immigration control, says the government needs to enforce existing immigration laws and beef up border security as the Sensenbrenner bill would do.

"Illegal immigrants know that once they get into this country they can live with impunity," said John Wahala, a researcher with the group.

"We need a policy of attrition that leads to a reduction in the number of immigrants coming, and where illegal immigrants will self-deport because they can't get jobs, they can't get driver's licenses or any of the things that legal permanent residents and citizens are entitled to."

Initiative planned

In Washington state, supporters of that position hope to put an initiative on the November ballot that would deny public services to illegal immigrants.

The immigration debate is important to states such as Washington, which over the last 15 years has drawn large numbers of foreigners — legally and illegally.

Undocumented immigrants in the state now total at least 136,000, according to Census estimates, occupying jobs in the agricultural, hospitality, restaurant and construction industries.

In the Seattle area, religious and labor groups have formed an unusual alliance with business and immigrant-advocacy groups in their call for a comprehensive approach to immigration.

They are organizing call-in campaigns and signing letters to members of the state's congressional delegation, urging support for balanced reform. A spokeswoman for Sen. Patty Murray's office said she had not taken a stand on the issue. A call to Sen. Maria Cantwell's office was not immediately returned Thursday.

March Saturday

On Saturday at 12:30 p.m., those urging reform will join illegal immigrants in a rally and march at the Holy Family Church, 9622 20th Ave. S.W.

Steve Leahy, president of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that the U.S. is facing an aging population with a severe shortage of workers to fill essential jobs that Americans are unwilling to take.

And Leahy said requirements to ensure that workers are legal would place huge compliance and bureaucratic burdens on employers.

"We don't condone and don't want to condone rampant illegal immigration," Leahy said. At the same time, he said, "there's a huge portion of American industry that relies heavily on immigration."

In Eastern Washington, where a large number of fruit growers depend on undocumented laborers, those in the industry say the Specter bill with its guest-worker component is their best hope.

Washington state has one of the largest agricultural industries in the country, with 260,000 workers. One-third of them are seasonal, and many of the seasonal workers are undocumented, said Dan Fazio, labor specialist with the Washington Farm Bureau.

"Everybody is talking about more enforcement because that's all everyone can agree on," he said. "If you like getting your food from China and Chile, then enforcement-only is fine."

Fear for future

Casa Latina, a Seattle agency that offers a number of services for immigrants, including organizing day laborers, would likely be put out of business if the "Good Samaritan" provisions in the bill became law.

"We have a policy not to check anybody's document and be open to everybody who needs help," said executive director Hilary Stern. "So we would not be able to operate if we had to check documents. We'd be faced with either going out of business or breaking the law."

But Bob Baker, a Mercer Island pilot who is backing the initiative to deny public services to illegal immigrants, says that if they are deprived of benefits, they'll go away.

"This is not just a federal problem," he said.

Lornet Turnbull: 206-464-2420 or lturnbull@seattletimes.com

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