Arrest leads to vigil in Iowa City

A recent arrest led to an unusual event -- or two unusual events -- outside the Johnson County Jail in Iowa City, according to an article on kcrg.com. Two different vigils were staged over the weekend after a woman was arrested on what the public claims to be a race-related issue. 


The Iowa City Police Department placed Basilia Apolonio under arrest Friday evening. The charges were two counts of fraudulent practice.

The arrest was made at the conclusion of a joint investigation by the Iowa City Department of Transportation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Details of the investigation have not been released, but it was not a well-received event by the public. 

Protestors gathered two different times outside the Johnson County Jail over the weekend, one of which was during a vigil Saturday. The other gathering took place Friday before Apolonio was actually released from the jail. 

The claim from the public is that the arrest of Apolonio along the highway while her children were watching was unjust and cruel to do  to the children. They claim it was race-related. 

Apolonio only made one comment about the event. She stated that everything she was doing was for her children. 

She did have two outstanding warrants for the investigation, but this was not enough to satisfy the public, who claims the investigation is spurred from a broken immigration system. 

Though the details of the investigation leading up to the arrest were not released, the event has sparked more immigration reform discussion in Iowa City, which has a large population of immigrants. 

Apolonio posted a $1,000 cash bond and was released later that day. 
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