CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / GOVERNOR : Brown Attacks Wilson on Illegal Immigration

SAN DIEGO —  Democratic gubernatorial nominee Kathleen Brown, continuing to emphasize how she and Gov. Pete Wilson differ on illegal immigration, stood at the U.S.-Mexico border Tuesday and accused the Republican incumbent of cynically and hypocritically using the issue to get reelected.

As cross-border traffic whizzed behind her, Brown showed reporters a 12-year-old videotape of Wilson--then a candidate for U.S. Senate--denouncing sanctions on employers who hire illegal immigrants and calling for a legalized guest worker program.

Brown, the state treasurer, called the guest worker program that Wilson later wrote to help California growers get seasonal labor “one of the largest loopholes ever written into U.S. immigration law.” She said Wilson is now trying to blame California’s ills on the illegal immigrants he once helped cross the border.

“Former U.S. Sen. Wilson is responsible for bringing in more than 1 million so-called Wilson Workers,” said Brown, who contended that Wilson received $600,000 in contributions from agricultural interests who benefited from the program. “He’s a political phony and a flip-flopper on illegal immigration.”

As she has with increasing frequency lately, Brown also attacked Wilson for his support of Proposition 187, the initiative that would deny non-emergency health care and education to illegal immigrants. Brown said that despite Wilson’s two new campaign commercials that laud him for having “the courage to say enough is enough” on illegal immigration, the incumbent governor has behaved like a coward.

“Courage would have been to stand up to your wealthy special interest friends when you were a U.S. senator and refuse to open up the border to more illegal immigrants,” she said. “Courage would be to admit that just because our elected officials haven’t been smart enough to stem the tide and the flow of illegal immigration, we shouldn’t now be punishing children through Proposition 187. That’s not courage. That’s political chicken.”

Wilson’s campaign spokesman, Dan Schnur, said the governor has consistently supported a legal immigration program for guest workers, but he said that Democratic legislators stripped Wilson’s original legislation of a provision that would have prevented workers from getting paid if they did not return to Mexico.

Schnur said Wilson has long believed that employer sanctions cannot be effective without a reliable system of verification of legal residence.

“While Kathleen Brown is screening videotape from 12 years ago, illegal immigrants are costing the taxpayers of California billions of dollars this year,” Schnur said. Brown, he said, should “stop the finger-pointing and the name-calling.”

Moments after her news conference, Brown sat down with KABC talk radio host Michael Jackson, who was broadcasting live from a small patch of grass a few dozen yards from the border.

She proposed to combat illegal immigration by adding 1,000 Border Patrol agents at the border, toughening employer sanctions, creating tamper-proof identification cards and deporting illegal immigrants who commit felonies to serve their sentences in their native countries.

Proposition 187, she said, would make a bad situation worse. “Read it,” she urged Jackson’s listeners. “There’s not one dollar in there for a border guard. There’s nothing about employer sanctions. It’s not going to get the money from the federal government. . . . We can’t afford that.”

Nevertheless, Jackson said, “It’s going to pass.”

Brown replied: “I will not put my money on that. I think the tide is changing because the voters are smart.”

Political Scorecard

13 days to go before Californians go to the polls

THE GOVERNOR’S RACE

* What Happened Tuesday: Republican Gov. Pete Wilson addressed the League of California Cities in Long Beach. Democrat Kathleen Brown visited the U.S.-Mexico border and discussed her opposition to Proposition 187 on the Michael Jackson radio talk show on KABC, originating from the border crossing at San Ysidro.

* What’s Ahead: Brown planned appearances in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Wilson was scheduled to campaign today in Salinas, Yuba City and Fresno.

THE SENATE RACE

* What Happened Tuesday: U.S. Rep. Mike Huffington held a press conference to discuss a new television commercial accusing U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of a conflict of interest in voting for education appropriations. Feinstein discussed law enforcement at the James Monroe Law and Government Magnet School in North Hills and received endorsement from the California Highway Patrol.

* What’s Ahead: Feinstein was scheduled to receive endorsements from law enforcement officials during campaign stops today in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey. Huffington planned to discuss his support for Proposition 187 in the San Diego area in the morning and to make an appearance in Los Angeles later in the day.

NOTABLE QUOTES

“I pledge that as governor, I will not balance the state’s budget on . . . the backs of local governments by reducing or transferring property taxes, sales taxes, vehicle license fees or other local revenues upon which cities depend in order to balance their own budgets.”

--State Treasurer Kathleen Brown, in address to the League of California Cities in Long Beach.

“I will pledge to you to continue fighting for the cities of California, as I’ve done for the past four years. . . . But you have now asked me if I will pledge to exempt local government from any future budget changes regardless of our fiscal condition. Unlike Kathleen Brown, I won’t make irresponsible election-year pledges simply to win votes.”

--Gov. Pete Wilson, in letter to the mayors of California’s 10 largest cities.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

The California Rifle and Pistol Assn., the state affiliate of the National Rifle Assn., has withdrawn its endorsement of Republican Gov.Wilson, saying there is “no significant difference” between him and Democrat Brown on firearms issues. In its publication, “The Firing Line,” the association suggested that members “evaluate the candidates’ positions on issues other than those related to firearms.”

A LIGHTER TOUCH

Treasurer Brown has added a new story to her repertoire from a recent appearance before the Modesto Rotary Club. During the question-answer period after her talk, Brown related this week, a woman member stood up and said: “Welcome to Modesto, Mrs. Wilson. . . . “ Brown said, “Now I’ve been called a lot of things, but I’ve never been called Pete Wilson’s wife!” And she added: “Imagine how Gayle (Wilson) would feel being called Jerry Brown’s sister.”