Trump expected to hammer border security during stop in Prairie du Chien

Former President Donald Trump returns to the Badger State this weekend for a scheduled stop in southwestern Wisconsin.

The GOP presidential candidate will deliver remarks on Saturday at the Prairie du Chien Area Arts Center, according to a news release from his campaign.

The campaign indicates he plans to continue to hammer the issue of border security during the visit, while accusing the Biden-Harris campaign of enabling illegal immigration.

“Thanks to Border Czar Harris’ horrendous job, even non-border states are feeling the impacts of her unruly border bloodbath and Wisconsinites are less safe,” the release states.

Republicans have labeled Harris as Biden’s border czar after the president put her in charge of tackling the root causes of migration to the U.S.

Trump signals plan to highlight Prairie du Chien case

The release indicates that Trump will highlight the case of Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, who was arrested by Prairie du Chien Police earlier this month.

Coronel Zarate faces multiple charges in Crawford County, including sexual assault, strangulation and battery.

Crawford County prosecutors say the 26-year-old sexually assaulted a woman he had been living with in Prairie du Chien. And, in a separate incident, prosecutors say Coronel Zarate choked and physically assaulted the woman, according to a criminal complaint filed this month in Crawford County Circuit Court.

He’s also charged with physical abuse of a child, after prosecutors say he attacked the woman’s daughter when the girl tried to intervene to prevent her mother from being choked. Coronel Zarate grabbed the girl’s hair and shoved her, causing her to hit her head, the criminal complaint says.

According to Prairie du Chien Police, Coronel Zarate is a not a U.S. citizen and he has suspected ties to a transnational gang from Venezuela.

In Dane County, a court official issued a warrant for Coronel Zarate’s arrest in December 2023 on charges of strangulation, disorderly conduct, false imprisonment and battery.

That’s after a woman told Madison police that Coronel Zarate had threatened her, choked and punched her while refusing to let her leave a car he was driving, according to a complaint filed in Dane County Circuit Court.

Coronel Zarate was never taken into custody in Dane County, according to a spokesperson for the Dane County Sherrif’s Office, which oversees the Dane County jail. He wasn’t arrested by Madison Police either, because he fled the scene before police could locate him, according to a statement from the department.

“Despite extensive efforts, including the deployment of a K-9 unit, he was not located.” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said in a statement. “The following day, the City of Madison Police Department received a stolen vehicle report; subsequent investigation identified Zarate as the primary suspect.  Zarate and the vehicle were located and arrested by law enforcement in Minneapolis later that day, but he was ultimately released from the Hennepin County Jail.”

The statement added, “Detectives with the City of Madison Police Department continued their investigation and worked with federal law enforcement partners to apprehend Zarate.  Charges have been referred to the Dane County District Attorney’s Office, where this remains an active case.  The City of Madison Police Department takes all reports of violence seriously and remains committed to thorough, diligent investigations.”

Minneapolis police arrested Coronel Zarate in November 2023 for receiving and concealing stolen property, a spokesperson for that police department confirmed.

After he was released in Minnesota, his arrest in Prairie du Chien became a rallying cry for Wisconsin Republicans on the issue of immigration.

Trump’s running mate JD Vance also spoke about the Coronel Zarate case during a recent campaign event in Eau Claire.

Studies don’t substantiate link between immigration and crime

Throughout his campaign, Trump has tied immigration to violent crime, while promising to carry out mass deportations.

But multiple studies have found lower incarceration rates among immigrants compared to native-born U.S. citizens.

During a recent interview with WPR, University of Wisconsin-Madison Sociology Professor Michael Light said anecdotes used by politicians don’t always reflect the broader trends related to crime and immigration.

“Yes, immigrants have committed crimes. And immigrants commit less crimes than native born U.S. citizens,” Light told “Wisconsin Today” in July. “Both (of) those can be true.”

Christine Neumann-Ortiz leads an immigration advocacy organization called Voces de La Frontera. She says Trump continues to sow division by demonizing immigrants.

“(These) gross generalizations of an entire group of people is racist,” she said. “You don’t promote public safety by casting everybody in this light.”

In recent months, both presidential candidates and their surrogates have been crisscrossing Wisconsin to try and win votes in the closely-fought state.

Trump’s most recent visit was to to the central Wisconsin community of Mosinee on Sept. 7.

His Democratic opponent Vice President Kamala Harris was in Madison last week.