Wilson Plans Immigration Offensive : Politics: The governor, who says illegal entrants sap the state’s jobs and budget, will mount a 10-day blitz on the issue. Critics dismiss the strategy as a reelection ploy.

Returning to a theme that has resounded with voters, Gov. Pete Wilson plans to devote much of the next 10 days to events focused on illegal immigration, the problems it causes and his proposed solutions.

Beginning with a trip to El Paso on Thursday and ending next week with the filing of a lawsuit against the federal government, Wilson will highlight his view that illegal immigrants are sapping the state’s budget, taking jobs from legal residents and burdening hospital emergency rooms, especially in Southern California.

Wilson’s aides say the renewed emphasis on immigration is meant to underscore the governor’s message that California is the victim of failed federal policy.

With Congress nearing a key decision on a major crime bill and the federal budget, Wilson is trying to turn up the heat on lawmakers and President Clinton to reimburse California for the cost of providing services, including prison cells, to illegal immigrants.

But the governor’s critics, including White House officials and spokesmen for Democrats competing for the nomination to oppose him in the fall, say Wilson is exploiting the issue in an attempt to jump-start his reelection campaign; polls still show him running behind his most likely challengers.

In El Paso, the Republican chief executive will view the so-called border blockade established by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Officially known as Operation Hold the Line, the project has resulted in an estimated 73% reduction in illegal border crossings in the region.

Although Wilson acknowledges that the El Paso experiment cannot be duplicated in California because the terrain along the international border between San Diego and Tijuana is much more rugged than in west Texas, he says the Border Patrol could do more to stop illegal immigrants from entering California.

Wilson will follow up his Texas trip with a speech in Los Angeles on Monday outlining the framework for the state’s suit against the federal government. The lawsuit will seek reimbursement for the $2.5 billion Wilson says it costs the state to provide education and emergency health care to illegal immigrants and to imprison about 15,000 illegal immigrants convicted of felonies.

Later on Monday, Wilson will travel to San Francisco to address a national conference on immigration issues sponsored by the Pacific Research Institute and the Manhattan Institute.

After several media interviews on the subject Tuesday, Wilson will take a day’s respite from the immigration beat and then visit Los Angeles and San Diego on April 28 and 29 for several more events, including the filing of the federal lawsuit.

The scheduled spate of immigration events is the clearest example to date of a new communications strategy in which Wilson hopes to saturate the state for days at a time with a single subject. Devised by Leslie Goodman, the governor’s new deputy chief of staff, the strategy is an outgrowth of the “message of the day” that Ronald Reagan used as President to convey his ideas clearly to the public.

Goodman said she believes that the public understands and supports Wilson’s opposition to illegal immigration. But she said Californians are not as familiar with the steps the governor advocates to solve the problem.

“We want the people of California to understand the actions that Pete Wilson has taken on all fronts--in the Legislature, in Congress and finally through the courts,” she said.

But Tom Epstein, a White House political aide who keeps tabs on California issues, said that Wilson’s renewed activism is ill-timed and that his criticism of the Clinton Administration is unfounded.

Epstein said Clinton has beefed up the Border Patrol and fulfilled the federal government’s legal obligation to reimburse the state for costs associated with illegal immigration.

“We’ve done more in 12 months than had been done in the previous 12 years by Republican administrations,” Epstein said. “This all existed while Pete Wilson was a U.S. senator and while he was governor. It’s curious that he never made much of an issue about it until we had a Democrat in the White House and he was running for reelection.”

Payment of the money Wilson is asking for is not required by law, Epstein said. A task force of federal and state officials is studying the issue and is expected to make recommendations on possible changes this summer, he said.

Wilson’s potential Democratic foes in California have said they support his pursuit of federal funds and, like the governor, believe the U.S. government should do more to secure the border. But they have criticized Wilson for the tone of his rhetoric and questioned his sincerity.

“Pete Wilson has chosen to exploit the passions that attach themselves to this issue by making it very personal,” said Darry Sragow, campaign director for Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi.

Polls show that the issue has been a political plus for Wilson.

A Los Angeles Times poll in September found that 92% of registered voters considered illegal immigration to be a problem, and 77% said it was a major problem.

About one-third of the poll’s respondents said Wilson’s immigration proposals made them feel more favorable toward him, while only 12% said the ideas made them less favorable toward him.

But a Times poll taken last month shows that the fervor over illegal immigration is not as great as it was.