Wilson Calls Halt to Much of Aid for Illegal Immigrants

Gov. Pete Wilson on Tuesday ordered state agencies to stop providing public services for illegal immigrants, as a first step in implementing the new federal welfare reform law.

Wilson’s order would eliminate prenatal care for about 70,000 illegal immigrant women. And he directed state agencies to search their jurisdictions for any additional programs in which illegal immigrants might participate.

He cited several general areas for review such as welfare, higher education, nonemergency health care, retirement, public housing, unemployment, food assistance, disability benefits, grants, contracts, loans and professional and commercial licenses.

Wilson’s order, however, exempts lower education, emergency health care and incarceration--the most costly programs to the state.

“Today, California takes a step forward in reforming a welfare system so that it once again encourages personal responsibility and no longer rewards those who break the law by entering the country illegally,” the governor said at a press conference in his Cabinet room, where he signed an executive order.

Many of Wilson’s cuts directed at California’s nearly 2 million illegal immigrants are the same as those approved by voters two years ago with the passage of Proposition 187. So far, however, the changes have been blocked by a federal judge.

Now, Wilson says the way has been cleared anew by federal welfare reform signed last week by President Clinton, ending 61 years of guaranteed federal assistance and delegating care of indigents to the states.

Attorneys representing immigrants said that they are studying the governor’s order and that the issue may land back in court again.

But this time, Wilson administration officials will contend that they are implementing federal law, not changing the state’s.

Wilson’s order will trigger the thorny requirement that all applicants for state services--except those specifically exempted--must now prove their citizenship for eligibility.

That prompted Wilson aides to reiterate the governor’s controversial support for a tamper-proof national identification card as a way to reduce traffic in counterfeit documents such as birth certificates and passports.

The governor’s staff said the financial significance of Wilson’s order is largely unknown since it will not affect the most costly impacts of illegal immigration, such as kindergarten through 12th-grade education.

Two years ago, when Wilson was running for reelection and campaigning for Proposition 187, his staff prepared an extensive report that identified $3.4 billion in illegal immigration costs paid by California taxpayers. But Tuesday, Wilson officials acknowledged that none of those costs will be affected by the order.

According to the 1994 report, primary and secondary public education for illegal immigrants, mandated by a U.S. Supreme Court order, cost California about $1.5 billion per year. Incarceration and emergency health care add nearly another $1 billion. (The new federal law also continues immunization and communicable disease treatment for illegal immigrants.)

Finally, based on an assumption that illegal immigrants constitute about 5.3% of the state’s population, Wilson officials figured an additional cost of about $1 billion per year for the use of parks, roads, police and other services.

Wilson administration officials said there should be several million dollars in savings when they identify other services now provided to illegal immigrants. But since many programs do not currently screen applicants for citizenship status, officials can only speculate about the full extent of benefits now going to illegal immigrants.

California immigration experts confirmed Tuesday that they also have no way to know the extent to which illegal immigrants use public services.

As part of the litigation that followed Proposition 187, attorneys developed an extensive list of programs that might be affected, such as foster care, pregnancy aid, child abuse services, assistance for the deaf, abortion services and programs for the handicapped.

“I don’t think anyone knows how many immigrants use these programs,” said Yolana Vera, staff attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, which focuses on the question of benefits for immigrants.

Prenatal care and long-term nursing care for illegal immigrants are two programs for which the state does know the cost and participation level.

In one concession to illegal immigrants, Wilson said in his press conference Tuesday that he will ask for special state legislation to continue the care for elderly illegal immigrants who now reside in state-operated nursing homes. The program costs about $10 million per year.

At the same time, he said he will move immediately to cut off prenatal care, which the governor’s staff estimates will save the state about $69 million a year.

In Orange County, 6,203 babies were born to undocumented women on Medi-Cal in 1994, according to state figures.

One Wilson administration official said the governor’s description of an “immediate” implementation means that county agencies will be notified this week that they have between 30 and 60 days to comply with the cutoff.

The implementation dates for cutting off any other programs will not be determined until the state’s internal review is complete, the official said.

For years, Wilson has fought unsuccessfully with the Legislature to cut off state funding for prenatal care to illegal immigrants.

Critics say that any savings to the state could be at least partially offset by an increase in unhealthy babies who become U.S. citizens at birth.

“I understand the philosophy behind trying to cut persons who are here illegally off of benefits,” said John Gilwee, vice president of the Santa Ana based-Health Care Assn. of Southern California. “But prenatal care is one of those things that the cost of which is relatively minor compared to the costs you incur when you take care of low birth-weight infants or high-risk pregnancies.

“In terms of fiscal impact, there’s little if any justification of denying prenatal services,” Gilwee said.

Still, Wilson said Tuesday that the benefit is a “magnetic lure” that motivates people to cross the border illegally.

“The question is not whether prenatal care is beneficial,” Wilson said. “The question is whether the United States should discard its immigration laws, throw open its borders and simply say we will take all comers.”

Senate Democratic Leader Bill Lockyer (D--Hayward) said Tuesday that he is uncertain whether his party will challenge Wilson’s order since he has not had a chance to review it.

In the meantime, the welfare overhaul has created considerable fear and confusion among California immigrants and their advocates.

“There’s a lot anxiety right now,” said Rodolfo Diaz, executive director of the Community Health Foundation of East Los Angeles. The clinic, like many neighborhood care providers, relies on federal and state grants and Medi-Cal payments for its survival. “If this welfare law is fully enacted the way they say it will be, it’ll collapse the safety net system,” Diaz said.

One of the most controversial issues in the federal welfare reform bill was a provision to cut public benefits to legal immigrants, just as Wilson’s order did for illegal immigrants.

States have the option of continuing the benefits at their own expense. Wilson said Tuesday that his staff is still studying the question of benefits for legal immigrants.

Wilson administration attorneys are also considering whether they will move to dismiss parts of the Proposition 187 lawsuit based on the new federal law. Whatever is decided, Proposition 187’s order to bar illegal immigrant children from public schools would remain before the court.

Civil rights attorneys handling the lawsuit against the proposition said Tuesday that they do not plan an immediate court action in response to Wilson’s order. Part of the reason, they said, is that the order was cautiously drafted to be “in accordance with all relevant legal requirements.”

Still, Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and a co-counsel in the case against Proposition 187, warned that “if they attempt to implement any denial to anyone pursuant to this law they’re going to run afoul of the judge’s order and they’ll be brought to court instantly.”

Rosenbaum also charged that the governor’s action was more political than substantive.

“This year’s political footballs are the children of immigrants,” he said.

Also contributing to this report was Times staff writer Lisa Richardson.