Bipartisan Panel on Immigration Formed : Policy: White House responds to pressure by Wilson and other governors to seek ways to relieve costs associated with illegal immigrants.

The Clinton Administration, pressed by Gov. Pete Wilson and five other governors, agreed Monday to form a bipartisan “working group” to push for federal legislation to relieve states hit hard by the soaring costs of illegal immigration.

Budget Director Leon Panetta announced the creation of the group after Wilson and others met with several Clinton Cabinet members to make their pitch for more federal aid.

But because of tight fiscal restraints, Panetta could make no monetary commitments to the governors.

“The reality is that we have a tight budget . . . but we want to respond to the problem. The question now is, how do we get it done in Congress?” Panetta asked. “We face a fundamental problem. We don’t have the strong political support on Capitol Hill that we need to move these kinds of initiatives.”

The partnership between the White House and the governors will focus on three areas: education, emergency health care and the incarceration of illegal immigrants, Wilson said. States with large numbers of illegal immigrants are forced by federal mandates to spend millions of dollars for such services.

“The costs of providing those services to illegal immigrants . . . denies us the ability . . . to provide the services to our own legal residents. And that’s just terribly wrong,” Wilson said.

Wilson wants Congress to supply the money or repeal the federal mandates.

Formation of the working groups points up the political difficulties faced by Wilson and the other governors. Because the problem afflicts only some states, broad congressional support has been hard to build. The White House needs the governors’ help in persuading other states to join their cause, Panetta said.

Despite long odds against getting the money, Wilson has built $2.3 billion of federal funds into his proposed state budget. Wilson said he will work with the Administration to seek the money, but conceded that the effort could fail.

Wilson was joined by the governors of Florida, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas in pushing for the increased federal emphasis on the illegal immigration issue.