CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / PROP. 187 : Kemp Draws Criticism for Voicing Opposition : Appearing at Nixon Library, the former Cabinet secretary defends position that puts him in disagreement with Wilson, GOP leaders.

Former Republican Cabinet secretary Jack F. Kemp faced an unenthusiastic and sometimes angry audience at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace on Wednesday as he defended his condemnation of Proposition 187, the immigration measure on the Nov. 8 state ballot.

In his first public discussion of his opposition to Proposition 187, Kemp told the disagreeing audience that he could not, in good conscience, support a measure that would “turn teachers and nurses into agents of the INS.”

Plunging into a controversial debate that clearly puts him at odds with the state Republican Party--and, according to recent public opinion polls, a majority of the state’s voters--Kemp said the measure feeds an anti-immigrant movement that the GOP should oppose.

“I was so bothered in my conscience (about the initiative) that I could not, in good conscience, support it, even though I know it will probably pass,” Kemp said.

“Vote for (Proposition 187). Go ahead and vote for it,” Kemp told an Anaheim apartment owner who blamed the crime rate on illegal immigrants. “I don’t blame you at all. . . . Send a signal (to Washington, D.C.). But don’t ask me to defend something that’s fundamentally flawed. . . . I am speaking from the heart.”

The former housing and urban development secretary also told the audience not to “scapegoat the problems of California on immigrants because they are not the source of the problem. The source of the problem is the overtaxation, the overregulation, the stupid defense cuts from Washington, D.C.”

Kemp, who was invited to the Nixon Library to discuss 1996 presidential campaign issues, was grilled by the audience after it was reported that Kemp and William J. Bennett, another former Republican Cabinet secretary, had prepared a statement strongly opposing the immigration initiative.

In the policy statement, which was officially released Wednesday, Kemp and Bennett said that while they oppose illegal immigration and welfare benefits to illegal immigrants, they believe Proposition 187 is unconstitutional and may “contribute to a nativist, anti-immigrant climate.”

Instead, they called for more effective border control, reform of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and a crackdown on fraudulent immigration documents, while opposing national identification cards.

The release of the policy statement coincided with Kemp’s planned speech in Orange County--the birthplace of Proposition 187--on the same day that former President George Bush attended a political fund-raiser for Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove).

Bush did not comment on the measure, but Dornan expressed his own reservations about the initiative and said of Kemp and Bennett: “I absolutely respect their opinions.”

Dornan, who supports Proposition 187, conceded that the initiative is “flawed” and may have an adverse effect on schoolchildren. If approved, the initiative would require school administrators to report children or the parents of children who are suspected of being illegal immigrants.

“What do you accomplish by putting kids out on the street where they can get into mischief?” Dornan asked. “I remember what the nuns taught me--that idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”

But outside the restaurant where Bush and Dornan appeared, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) issued a stinging rebuke of Kemp.

“His act of stupidity has knocked him right out of the presidential race,” Rohrabacher told reporters. “If he disagreed with it, he should have kept his mouth shut. . . .”

Kemp, saying he believes that Proposition 187 “would smack of potential discrimination” against ethnic minorities, said during a news conference after his Nixon Library speech that he felt compelled to warn the Republican Party, “At the moment it has the best chance in our lifetime of being a majority party, we must never ever . . . turn our backs on people of color, people who want to be part of the American dream.”

While in Orange County, Kemp was a featured guest at a fund-raiser for state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, who has not taken a position on Proposition 187. Kemp said he asked Lungren if he still wanted him to attend the campaign event, given his statement on the initiative, and that Lungren had said yes.

Kemp has also campaigned for Gov. Pete Wilson and other GOP candidates on the statewide ballot, a point not lost on a man who stood up after Kemp’s speech to challenge the former Cabinet member.

“Why didn’t you just be quiet?” the audience member asked, prompting audience laughter. “All you did was boost (Democratic gubernatorial candidate) Kathleen Brown and possibly wound your good friend Pete Wilson.”

But Kemp responded that “unity does not require uniformity.”

“Pete Wilson is not going to lose the election because of Jack Kemp,” he said, emphasizing his belief that Wilson will win.

he said.

Not everyone was disappointed with Kemp’s position.

As he waited outside the auditorium to get Kemp’s autograph, Jim Powell, 42, of Lake Arrowhead said he was angered when he read Wednesday’s newspaper headline stating Kemp’s position.

“Then, when I actually heard him, I thought he had some good points,” Powell said. “He changed my opinion, and I think I’m going to vote against (the initiative).”

Times staff writer Martin Miller contributed to this report.