Ex-Wilson Housekeeper Got Green Card in 1979, INS Says

The woman who may have been an illegal immigrant when Gov. Pete Wilson and his former wife hired her as a housekeeper in the late 1970s was eligible to work in the United States as early as January, 1979, immigration officials disclosed Wednesday.

Josefina Klag, 52, was approved for a green card--the official document permitting one to work in the United States--in March, 1979, which the Immigration and Naturalization Service revealed after the controversy surrounding her involvement with Wilson surfaced last week.

But an INS official, Peter Gordon, said Wednesday that Klag became eligible for legal employment on the date she applied for the card: Jan. 23, 1979.

However, Klag recently told an assistant to John Davies, Wilson’s longtime adviser and attorney, that she began working for the then-mayor of San Diego and his ex-wife, Betty Hosie, in April, 1978, according to a memo written by Davies.

It is that date the Wilson camp has used in coming up with the figure of $3,000--the amount the governor and his ex-wife apparently owe for her unpaid Social Security taxes and penalties for three years between April, 1978, and the date Wilson and Hosie separated.

Meanwhile, Wilson’s office has acknowledged that it is still investigating Klag’s employment status with Wilson and the dates involved.

“Our review is continuing and we don’t have anything further to add,” Wilson spokesman Sean Walsh said Wednesday. “I expect to hold comment until our review is completed. This is information that you provided us that we did not have before. We do not have a start date and part of our review is to ascertain the start date. We’re looking.”

INS officials also revealed Wednesday that Klag, 52, obtained a border-crossing card, allowing her to shop or visit friends in the United States, on Oct. 1, 1970. However, it was almost nine years later that she obtained the green card, INS officials said.

A border-crossing card cannot be used to work, live or obtain public benefits on the American side of the border. A green card permits a foreign citizen the opportunity of legal residence or employment in the United States.

The new information also indicates that Klag apparently lost the green card shortly after receiving it. She applied for a new one in June, 1979, and obtained it in October, 1979, according to the INS, which refused to disclose additional information, citing privacy.

Hosie, Wilson’s former wife, has acknowledged hiring Klag--or Josefa Delgado, as she identifies herself in legal documents--in late 1978 or early 1979. Hosie, who has said she cannot remember the exact date, paid Delgado $25 a day, once a week.

The circumstances under which it was paid and the couple’s failure to pay Social Security taxes at the time have cast a cloud over Wilson’s fledgling presidential bid.

Wilson and his former wife acknowledged last week that they hired an illegal immigrant housekeeper and failed to pay her Social Security taxes while Wilson was mayor of San Diego more than 16 years ago.

In a statement issued last week, Wilson said he was unaware that Klag was without immigration papers at the time she was hired. He has vowed to restore the unpaid share of her Social Security taxes, the estimated $3,000.

Since the revelation, Klag and Hosie have remained in seclusion, declining media attempts to interview them.

In Klag’s neighborhood of Colonia Libertad, a gritty, working-class section of Tijuana, friends and neighbors said Wednesday that the native of San Luis Potosi has gone into hiding and is terrified by the storm swirling around her.

“They’re going to talk,” Felix Castro, a neighbor and friend, said of Klag and her supporters. “They just don’t know how to manage the thing. They’re afraid.”

A Tijuana television station has aired passionate appeals all week, aiming them directly at Klag, with newscasters literally begging her to come forward.

Becky Irwin, Klag’s current employer and a longtime La Jolla resident who recommended her to the Wilsons, said Klag told her Tuesday that she would not be seeing her for a while.

“I’m afraid I’ve lost a maid,” Irwin said. “She doesn’t want to talk to anybody. She’s very upset by this. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

Times staff writers Patrick McDonnell in Los Angeles, Dave Lesher in Sacramento and Chris Kraul and Sebastian Rotella in San Diego contributed to this report.