Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Wilson Tours the New State Prison : Incarceration: The governor spends 90 minutes at the Lancaster facility before heading to a reelection fund-raiser in Palmdale.

Gov. Pete Wilson, making his first public appearance in the heavily Republican Antelope Valley in more than three years, toured the new state prison in Lancaster on Monday and attended a $250-per-person reelection fund-raiser in Palmdale.

During a 90-minute visit to the $207-million prison, which opened six months ago, Wilson said he believes that Lancaster residents have accepted the prison, and that state officials are still interested in building a second prison in the Antelope Valley if residents do not oppose it.

The Lancaster prison was originally planned as part of a “share the pain” compromise to end wrangling between Democrats and Republicans representing constituents who did not want prisons in their communities. Under the agreement, one prison was to be built in the heavily Republican Antelope Valley, and another in a Democrat stronghold in East Los Angeles.

Following the agreement, a community uproar forced cancellation of the East L. A. prison, so only the Lancaster facility was built.

The Republican governor took a brief tour of the facility, visiting a cellblock and inspecting the activities building. During the cellblock visit, although all the inmates were locked in their cells and eerily quiet, one prisoner shouted after the departing governor: “Impeach Wilson.”

Fortunately for Wilson, who is gearing up for next June’s gubernatorial primary, prison inmates cannot vote. But Republicans, who widely outnumber Democrats in the Antelope Valley, most certainly do. And the governor was expected to get a warmer reception at the evening fund-raiser.

Arranged by Lancaster insurance broker Frank Visco, the former chairman of the state Republican Party, the reception at the Palmdale home of former Lancaster Mayor Lou Bozigian was expected to draw about 212 paying guests and gross about $53,000 before expenses.

Among the other guests expected were U. S. Rep. Howard (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), state Assemblyman and former Palmdale Mayor William J. (Pete) Knight (R-Palmdale), and entertainer Sonny Bono, a candidate in the state’s 1992 Republican U. S. Senate primary.

Wilson spent the morning in Los Angeles unveiling a package of proposals seeking federal help to curb illegal immigration across the Mexico-California border, including an amendment to the U. S. Constitution to deny citizenship to children of illegal immigrants.

Later, at the Lancaster prison, Wilson said the state could save money if it didn’t have to incarcerate the estimated 13% of California prison inmates who are in the country illegally. Warden Otis Thurman said nearly 16% of the Lancaster prison’s inmates--about 500 of 3,180--fall into that category.

By joining the campaign against illegal immigration, the governor endorsed a theme often sounded by Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, a possible conservative challenger to Wilson next year. The governor’s Antelope Valley visit also landed him in the heart of Antonovich’s district.

Although aides said they could not remember the last time Wilson visited the Antelope Valley, his most recent public appearance was in June, 1990--before his November, 1990, election as governor--for a Republican fund-raiser in Lancaster that featured then-Vice President Dan Quayle.

Wilson aides said the governor was unable to attend this year’s June 4 dedication ceremony for the 1.2 million-square-foot Lancaster prison, which opened Feb. 1, because of state budget talks. The 2,200-bed complex will reach its 4,000-prisoner capacity later this year, prison officials said.

Times correspondent Sharon Moeser contributed to this story.