Trump speaks in Prairie du Chien
(Top) Donald Trump speaks at the Prairie du Chien Area Arts Center (PAAC) to a crowd of approximately 700 on September 28. Patty Morin (middle) and Derrick Van Orden (right) watched from the panel. (Steve Van Kooten/Courier Press)
The former president, others talk immigration, crime, drugs in Southwest Wisconsin
By Steve Van Kooten
Former President Donald Trump traveled to Prairie du Chien this past weekend to deliver remarks about the open border, immigration and the influx of fentanyl into the United States. Trump called border policy a bigger issue than inflation.
Trump appeared at the Prairie du Chien Area Arts Center (PAAC) to speak in front of approximately 700 people, along with U.S. Representative Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) and Wisconsin State Assemblyman Travis Tranel (R-Cuba City). Local officials, including Crawford County Sheriff Dale McCullick and Prairie du Chien Police Chief Kyle Teynor, also spoke before Trump’s arrival.
Trump acknowledged the arrest of Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate by the Prairie du Chien Police Department earlier in the month, which has served as the lynchpin for Trump’s visit to Prairie du Chien. He also mentioned other areas of the country, such as Springfield, Ohio, where there have been disputed claims ranging from crime to economic strain from the arrival of immigrants.
“I spoke to people from Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania,” he said. “They’re beside themselves. Honestly, they’re not going to take it much longer.”
Coronel Zarate was arrested on September 5. The next day, the police department released a statement about his suspected ties to a transnational gang called Tren de Aragua and established that he was not a U.S. citizen based on two pieces of fraudulent citizenship documentation, including an illegitimate social security card.
Van Orden, along with U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Elmwood), released an open letter to the Dane County Sheriff on September 9, a few days after Coronel Zarate’s arrest. The letter questioned the county’s interaction with Coronel Zarate’s and their cooperation with ICE. The Sheriff responded that the county never had Coronel Zarate in custody, which was corroborated by the criminal complaint filed with the Dane County Circuit Court.
Trump claimed noncitizens will increase crime in small towns, including schools and law enforcement agencies, saying, “Oh, you’re going to have a lot of problems. I don’t care how good your law enforcement is; you’re going to have a lot of problems.”
He also pointed out criminal cases in other Wisconsin municipalities, including Fond du Lac and Wausau, where noncitizens have allegedly committed violent crimes.
Both Van Orden and Trump referenced data from the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement shared by U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) on September 27. Trump cited the ICE data when he claimed the current administration allowed more than 13,000 murderers, among other criminals, through the southern border and referred to the criminals crossing the border as “stone-cold killers.”
Trump called the numbers shocking, but it’s important to note that officials, including Luis Miranda, a spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, have claimed that the data is “misrepresented” and includes noncitizens that migrated to the United States before the Biden administration, noncitizens serving prison sentences and others are unable to be deported because their home country will not accept them.
Trump characterized Harris as “mentally impaired,” “incompetent” and a “liar” when speaking about the current administration’s management of the border.
Earlier in the day, Teynor spoke at length about the arrest of Coronel Zarate. Teynor released the original statement to the media and on the department’s social media page, as well as a follow-up on September 9.
“The events that transpired in Prairie du Chien on September 5, 2024, forever changed the lives of two women who called Prairie du Chien their home for a short time,” he said. “Let me be clear: the suspect from the September 5 incident is the only gang member from Venezuela that my staff has come in contact with preceding this incident and the only Venezuelan gang member we have had contact with since this incident.”
Teynor continued, saying, “Violence knows no nationality, it knows no immigration status, it knows no race and it knows no political affiliation.”
He followed up by saying acts of violence have become “all too common” in small communities like Prairie du Chien.
Teynor, McCullick and others talked about fentanyl, a ubiquitous problem in Wisconsin and the country at large. Van Orden claimed that four times as many people have died from fentanyl than in the Vietnam War. Fentanyl has become increasingly tied to overdose deaths since 2017.
“I’m told the majority of the drugs coming into this area are coming through the open border,” said McCullick. “I’m sure that’s everywhere.”
“The heartbreaking reality is that children can no longer play catch with their dad in the backyard due to the deadly drug that is too easily accessible in our communities,” said Teynor. “One unnecessary death is too many.
“Prairie du Chien is my home. I grew up here. I raised my family here. We will continue to walk in our neighborhood, and I encourage you all to do the same. Be kind to your neighbors. This community is better known for its kindness than any single act of violence.”
