Every crime has a victim.

As the county attorney, one of my most important jobs is to hold perpetrators of violent crime accountable and find justice and safety for their victims.

A few years ago, I met Lily, who had recently discovered her daughter was being sexually abused by her father, “the perpetrator,” who was a U.S. citizen. Lily had also been severely abused by the perpetrator. When Lily discovered her daughter’s abuse, she faced an impossible dilemma. If she called local authorities for help, the perpetrator would make good on his threat to report Lily’s immigration status. Lily feared that reporting the abuse would make her daughter less safe because, if Lily got deported, she could not protect her.

Lily was especially vulnerable because she was an undocumented immigrant. The perpetrator brought her to the U.S., and she overstayed. At the time of the abuse, Lily was a reliable and valued employee for a local business. Her daughter was born here, attended school, and was part of our community.

When the perpetrator started abusing her daughter, Lily knew she needed help. She called the police, and officers immediately brought her and her daughter to safety. The officers never asked about their immigration status. The school community rallied around Lily and her daughter, and local nonprofits helped them access counseling and treatment. The perpetrator was arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to prison.

Cases like Lily’s are common in Johnson County. Undocumented immigrants in our community are much more likely to be the victims of violent crime, not the perpetrators. Perpetrators of violent crimes use their victims’ undocumented status as leverage so they can continue the abuse.

I bring Lily’s story to the community’s attention because, as county attorney, I want people to understand when anyone in our community is afraid to report a crime, everyone in our community is less safe. I am exceedingly concerned that the threats and actions coming from Washington will deter victims from reporting violent crime. As a result, victims, many of them children, will be subjected to unmitigated abuse, serious injury, and even death.

Protecting the safety and the rights of every person in our community is the top priority of the Johnson County Attorney’s office and our local law enforcement partners.

If someone you know is a victim of a crime, please don’t be afraid to report it. My office and local law enforcement are here to help. In fact, local law enforcement is prohibited from asking for or collecting “any information from a victim of or witness to an alleged public offense or from a person reporting an alleged public offense, including the victim’s, witness’s, or person’s national origin, that is not pertinent to the investigation of the alleged public offense,” as stated in Iowa Code.

-Rachel Zimmermann Smith

Johnson County Attorney