MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A day after Vice President Kamala Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, former President Donald Trump is expected to respond by again linking her to illegal border crossings during an event in a river town in western Wisconsin.
Trump will go to Prairie du Chien, a city of about 5,000 across the Mississippi River from Iowa, on Saturday for a campaign event focused on immigration. He is expected to highlight the local case of a Venezuelan national accused of sexually assaulting a woman and assaulting her daughter in an alleged domestic dispute.
Trump hopes frustration over illegal immigration will translate into votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican candidate has labeled people crossing the US-Mexico border as “poisoning the blood of the country” and has vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in US history if elected.
Wisconsin Republicans in recent days have pushed the story of Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate’s arrest in Prairie du Chien as more evidence that people in the country illegally are committing crimes in the United States, and not just in the southern border states. Prosecutors charged Coronel Zarate on September 18 with sexual assault, child abuse, strangulation and domestic violence.
Police Chief Kyle Teynor posted statements on Facebook saying Coronel Zarate is not a U.S. citizen and that he had two fake immigration documents, including a fake Social Security card. The chief added that Coronel Zarate’s tattoos indicate he has ties to the Tren de Aragua gang, which started in Venezuelan prisons and is a growing threat in the US.
Court records show that Coronel Zarate was previously charged in December in Madison, the state capital, with strangulation, false imprisonment, assault and disorderly conduct. According to a criminal complaint in that case, Coronel Zarate was driving with a friend in November and attacked her when she tried to get out of the car. The complaint does not state why. The woman told investigators that they were just acquaintances and that Coronel Zarate was homeless.
Police in Madison said Coronel Zarate allegedly stole a car and fled before he could be questioned. He was arrested in Minneapolis a day after the alleged attack, but was released from jail there. When asked why, Hennepin County Sheriff Office spokesperson Megan Larson told a reporter she had to make a request for Coronel Zarate’s jail records. The Associated Press has made such a request, but government agencies typically take months to comply.
Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Derrick Van Orden, who is from Prairie du Chien, have criticized authorities in both Minneapolis and Madison for letting Coronel Zarate go. They said they essentially allowed him to attack the woman in Prairie du Chien. They have accused both jurisdictions of being havens for people in the country illegally.
Michelle Marie Dietrich, a public defender representing Coronel Zarate in the Prairie du Chien case, declined to comment. Charlotte Wynes, another public defender who represented him along with Dietrich in Prairie du Chien, did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment. Michelle Brandemuehl, a public defender representing him in Madison, also did not respond to a voicemail message seeking comment.
Trump has repeatedly portrayed migrants as criminals and accused Harris of failing to stem an unprecedented rise in illegal immigration, even though the number of border crossings has declined since President Joe Biden issued an executive order limiting asylum applications. Democrats, in turn, have blamed Trump for convincing allies in Congress to kill bipartisan legislation that would have funded more border agents and given the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to restrict entry for most people above a daily limit to ban.
