PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. — Former President Donald Trump sought again to link Vice President Kamala Harris to illegal border crossings, speaking in a western river town where he said she could never be forgiven for “erasing our border.”
A day after Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump spoke to a crowd in the Wisconsin town of 5,000 people just across the Mississippi River from Iowa, claiming the Democratic nominee was responsible for migrants who have come into the country illegally and have committed crimes.
“Kamala Harris can never be forgiven for her erasing our border and she must never be allowed to become president of the United States,” Trump said. “She’s letting in people who are going to walk into your house, break into your door,” he said.
Trump is hoping frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected.
“I will liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion,” he said. “We’re going to liberate the country.”
But Trump also intensified his personal attacks against Harris, insulting her as “mentally impaired.”
“If a Republican did what she did, that Republican would be impeached and removed from office … Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way,” he said.
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And he also professed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for taking children from their parents. Under his administration, Trump separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself ended.
On the Wisconsin rally stage with Trump were three mugshots of men in the U.S. illegally accused of a crime, including Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, a case Trump cited in his speech.
Wisconsin Republicans in recent days have held up the story of Coronel Zarate’s arrest in Prairie du Chien as more evidence that people in the country illegally are committing crimes across the United States, not just in southern border states. Prosecutors charged Coronel Zarate on Sept. 18 with sexual assault, child abuse, strangulation and domestic abuse.
Police Chief Kyle Teynor posted statements on Facebook saying that 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’s affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang, which started in Venezuelan prisons and is posing a growing threat in the U.S.
Speaking to the crowd Saturday, Teynor stressed to the crowd that Coronel Zarate is the only Venezuelan gang member his agency has encountered, but the violence his two alleged victims suffered at his hands earlier this month was very real.
Court records show Coronel Zarate was previously charged in Madison, the state capital, in December with strangulation, false imprisonment, battery and disorderly conduct. According to a criminal complaint in that case, Coronel Zarate was driving with a female friend in November and attacked her when she tried to get out of the car. The complaint does not say why. The woman told investigators that they were just acquaintances and Coronel Zarate was homeless.
Police in Madison said that 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. Asked why, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Megan Larson told a reporter to file a request for Coronel Zarate’s jail records. The Associated Press filed such a request but government agencies typically take months to fulfill them.
Crawford County Sheriff Sheriff Dale McCullick also addressed the crowd, and said he was sure Trump would solve the border problem and urged people to vote for Trump.
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, saying they essentially allowed him to attack the woman in Prairie du Chien. They have accused both jurisdictions of being sanctuaries for people in the country illegally.
Speaking Saturday, Van Orden said Trump was the only one who could restore order.
“You’re going to see the one man who has enough strength and courage of conviction to stand up to anyone up to and including being shot in the head for us,” he said.
Michelle Marie Dietrich, a public defender representing Coronel Zarate in the Prairie du Chien case, declined to comment. Charlotte Wynes, another public defender representing him in Prairie du Chien along with Dietrich, didn’t respond to a voicemail seeking comment. Michelle Brandemuehl, a public defender representing him in Madison, also didn’t respond to a voicemail message seeking comment.
Trump has repeatedly portrayed migrants as criminals and blamed Harris for failing to stem an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration, though border crossings have fallen since President Joe Biden instituted an executive order limiting asylum claims. Democrats, in turn, have blamed Trump for persuading allies in Congress to kill bipartisan legislation that would have funded more border agents and given the Homeland Security secretary authority to prohibit entry for most people over a daily limit.