Several years ago, I was part of a team leading a retreat for Lutheran pastors in northwestern Washington on the theme of the church's mission to work for social justice. We asked each minister to review his or her family history going back two generations and specifically to examine their experience of work. All of them recalled a past of being hard-working, faith-filled and family-oriented. Many of them also recalled their parents' or grandparents' experiences of being immigrants, most often from Scandinavian countries.

In becoming closer to our roots of being children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren of immigrants, it may become possible to understand the "hard-working, faith-filled and family-oriented" immigrants of today who may pick our crops, serve as housekeepers or janitors, do landscaping or construction or program computer technology. The work is valuable and necessary, contributes to our economy and allows families to survive when there are no viable economic alternatives in their countries of origin.

Immigrants today, like yesterday, come to the Pacific Northwest to work and to build a better future for their children. Whether they arrived with or without documentation, they almost universally long for a path to permanent residency and citizenship with the chance to be unified with their families. Proposed state initiative 946 plays on the misperceptions that immigrants come to take social services from our system. Most services such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or food stamps require proof of legal status. Still, the initiative would require the verification of immigration status for basic health and human services, require state and local employees to report suspected violators and charge employees who fail to report suspected violators with a crime.

The programs most affected by this initiative would be those providing for child care and emergency health services. Women who may be pregnant or fleeing domestic violence situations would also be impacted. I-946, if approved, would create a hostile environment for immigrants in Washington State. The fear and intimidation which this initiative would create would deter them from accessing basic health services, undermining the overall health of our communities. Further, it would make immigrants who need police or fire assistance reluctant to access those services, even in life-threatening situations.

Recalling our own histories of hard work and immigration, let us think about the social cost of destabilizing families coming under intense scrutiny when seeking basic health care. The economic cost of implementing this initiative would be expensive as well. The "Hate to Hope" coalition has formed to oppose I-946. The Polish concept of "solidarity" with those newcomers to our communities who are struggling to make ends meet is a value that would be well-applied here. Our coalition believes this initiative would tear at the social fabric our state. We believe that it deserves no welcome on the ballot in our future-oriented, trade dependant and wonderfully diverse state.

Michael Ramos is the director of social justice ministries for the Church Council of Greater Seattle.