Wilson Says INS Action May Spur Vote Fraud

SACRAMENTO —  Gov. Pete Wilson charged Wednesday that California faces the possibility of “massive voter fraud” in the upcoming election because federal immigration authorities improperly granted citizenship to thousands of criminal immigrants.

Wilson and Republican leaders nationwide have recently seized on the controversy at the Immigration and Naturalization Service to criticize the Clinton administration in the final days before the election.

The allegations stem from federal admissions that some recently sworn-in citizens had criminal records that should have made them ineligible for naturalization.

On Wednesday, Wilson went beyond accusations of impropriety to complain that the INS problems have jeopardized the integrity of California’s election results.

“With the election less than two weeks away, Californians have a right to know how many of these individuals whom they have rushed to naturalize will be committing voter fraud when they cast ballots,” Wilson said at a Capitol news conference.

The governor complained about “the impact of this seemingly massive voter fraud . . . on the November election.”

Wilson’s comments triggered another exchange with INS officials, who charged in a letter to Wilson on Wednesday that his statements are “false and misleading.”

“Gov. Wilson is exaggerating far beyond what the truth is,” said INS spokesman Eric Andrus.

The dispute Wednesday focused on the scope of the problem.

INS officials say as few as 100 people might have been improperly naturalized during the last year. Wilson argued that about 100,000 criminal immigrants may have been improperly sworn in as U.S. citizens during the same period.