A recent arrest of a suspected member of a Venezuelan gang in Wisconsin is likely to become a talking point for former President Donald Trump at his rally in the state this Saturday. Trump, the GOP presidential nominee for the upcoming November election, will be rallying in Mosinee, Wisconsin—about three and a half hours from where Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, a 26-year-old Venezuelan, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Zarate was apprehended on Thursday after allegations arose regarding incidents of physical and sexual violence. According to the Prairie du Chien Police Department, he was involved in an altercation that not only affected a woman but also resulted in injuries to a child. Following his arrest, ICE placed a detainer on him.
He is believed to have ties to Tren de Aragua, a notorious transnational gang involved in activities including murder, kidnapping, extortion, and trafficking in drugs and humans.
Zarate faces multiple charges such as domestic battery, strangulation, child abuse, and sexual assault, and he has existing warrants in Dane County for similar offenses.
Using this arrest, Trump may reiterate his longstanding claims that migrants are often linked to crime, a narrative he has promoted since his 2016 presidential campaign, where he controversially labeled Mexican migrants as “rapists.” However, studies from the Brennan Center for Justice highlight that immigration does not correlate with higher crime rates, suggesting the opposite is true.
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In related political moves, Trump’s senior adviser, Danielle Alvarez, recently blamed Vice President Kamala Harris for the surge of illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border. She mentioned high-profile violent crimes involving undocumented immigrants, which they claim should be attributed to Harris’ policies, especially after Biden’s endorsement of her as the Democratic nominee.
While illegal immigration rates saw a rise under President Biden, they had also begun to climb during Trump’s final months in office, following a decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, Biden had appointed Harris in 2021 to tackle the “root causes” of migration from Central America, though border security wasn’t her primary responsibility.