Wilson Backs Immigration Initiative : Referendum: The measure would deny public education and some medical care to illegal residents. The governor says he would welcome a constitutional test.

Gov. Pete Wilson indicated his support Thursday for a proposed November ballot measure that would deny public education and non-emergency medical care to illegal immigrants in California.

Wilson said passage of the initiative would not result in children of illegal immigrants being kicked out of schools as predicted by some opponents. Instead, the governor told reporters that the measure would probably provoke a lawsuit to test the constitutionality of denying the use of state tax dollars to educate illegal immigrants.

“We would be delighted to see a test of that kind,” Wilson said.

Backers of the petition drive, Save Our State, say they have collected enough signatures to qualify the initiative for the November ballot. While reserving the right to differ on specific provisions, Wilson said: “I think I’d probably vote ‘yes’ on it.”

If the initiative qualifies for the ballot, it is likely to play a significant role in the fall campaign for governor. The Democratic candidates oppose the measure and front-runner Kathleen Brown has described it as “mean-spirited and dangerous.”

In a statement Thursday, Enrique M. Loaeza, Mexico’s consul general in Los Angeles, disputed one of the petition drive’s central assumptions: that immigrants enter the United States to benefit from social services--a theme championed by Wilson. Rather, the Mexican official reiterated the opinion of many experts that jobs are the principal magnet.

“We strongly reject the notion that Mexican immigrants are driven to come here to have children and to gain access to primary education, emergency health care and citizenship,” Loaeza told the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission. “The demand for low-cost labor brings immigrant workers seeking better incomes for their families.”

Wrapping up his fourth lobbying trip to Washington in five months, Wilson departed Thursday without any encouraging signals that the federal government will meet his request to reimburse California $3.1 billion for immigrant services.

But Wilson announced that he will return to Washington next month to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee as part of his ongoing quest to get Congress to pay for health, education and incarceration costs associated with illegal immigration.

The Republican governor is counting on Washington to fill a $3.1-billion hole in his proposed 1994-95 budget even though most federal lawmakers predict that there is little or no chance that Congress will approve even a fraction of that amount in time for state budget deliberations this summer.

“I think if you make that statement and throw in the towel, you can be virtually assured that you will not get a damned thing,” Wilson said at a news conference.

Wilson was buoyed by reports that a bipartisan group of 10 senators joined to press for increased immigrant funding and that Texas became the fifth state to announce plans to sue the federal government to recover immigration costs.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a member of the Appropriations Committee, said the senators are pushing for $600 million to reimburse states for the cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants. California would receive about half that amount.

While Feinstein pledged in a meeting with Wilson to help California get its fair share of federal funds, she warned the governor that his demands were excessive.

“I felt I had to be honest with the governor and tell him that securing $3 billion this year would be highly unlikely,” Feinstein said.

Some California Democrats and Clinton Administration officials contend that the governor’s numbers are based on an inflated estimate of California’s illegal immigrant population.

“It is disingenuous for the governor to claim there is really a $3.1-billion budget gap he expects the federal government to fill when the true number is significantly less,” said Tom Epstein, White House liaison for California affairs.