1 week Ago By STEVE RUNDIO [email protected]
The Thursday arrest of a 26-year-old undocumented man in Prairie du Chien has placed the federal debate about immigration policies at the heart of local discussion. Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, 26, of Venezuela, was arrested Sept. 5 by police in Prairie du Chien.
He was booked into Crawford County Jail for two counts of second-degree sexual assault, two counts of domestic battery and count one each of strangulation/suffocation and physical abuse of a child. Coronel Zarate Police say Coronel Zarate had warrants from Dane County for strangulation/suffocation, false imprisonment, battery and disorderly conduct. Coronel Zarate is being held on $10,000 cash bail and has an initial court appearance set for Sept.
19. Third District U.S.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden blamed the incident on the “open border” immigration polices of the Biden administration. This is a direct result of horrible democratic policies.
The open border is a kitchen table issue here in Wisconsin. We must secure our nation or more of our citizens will be brutalized. @RebeccaforWI fully supports Harris the Border Tsar.
Remember in November https://t.co/Oe5SAAcLwd “This is a direct result of horrible (D)emocratic policies,” Van Orden posted on his X account. “We must secure our nation or more of our citizens will be brutalized.
” Van Orden, a Prairie du Chien Republican, is running for re-election in a competitive race against Democrat Rebecca Cooke. During a Zoom press conference Monday, Van Orden said Coronel Zarate entered the U.S.
at El Paso, Texas, and has been arrested and released twice — once in Minneapolis and once in Dane County. He said Coronel Zarate is part of of a larger problem. “This is a kitchen table issue .
..,” Van Orden said.
“Under the border czar (Kamala) Harris and the Biden Administration, they’ve allowed 15 million illegal aliens into the country in a 31⁄2-year period of time. It’s the largest influx of people entering this country in the history of our nation.” U.
S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, speaks during the Wisconsin RNC delegation breakfast at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Milwaukee on July 17.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump also mentioned Coronel Zarate’s arrest Saturday during a campaign rally in Mosinee. He described the suspect as a “bad guy” who belonged to a “savage Venezuelan gang.” “Bad guy.
Shouldn’t be in the country. Came out of jail. Came out of jail in his country.
I will get these monster criminals out of Wisconsin. I will get them out of our country,” Trump said. Prairie du Chien police chief Kyle Teynor said in a press release the incident occurred on the 300 block of East Wells Street.
He said Coronel Zarate knew the victim, an adult female, and that the assault “was not a random event.” Teynor said a female juvenile was also inside the house and appeared to be injured during the altercation. He also said Coronel Zarate is suspected of being affiliated with Tren de Aragua, which he described as a “transnational criminal organization” known for trafficking humans, drugs and firearms.
“This incident highlights the need to be aware of the dangers that affiliates of these transnational criminal organizations pose to our communities,” Teynor said. “Violence towards others, no matter the circumstances, cannot be tolerated in our community. Our agency remains committed to holding violent actors accountable for their criminal offenses.
” Van Orden said Coronel Zarate’s gang affiliation was clear by his tattoos but allowed to enter the country anyway. Teynor said Coronel Zarate was found with fictitious IDs, including a fake Social Secuirty card. He said federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials has been notified of the arrest.
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