ICE charges Des Moines superintendent as illegal immigrant

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Saturday said they arrested Ian Roberts, who they said was an illegal immigrant from Guyana. He was working as the superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools despite being an illegal alien with a final order of removal, no work authorization, and an existing weapons charge, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

DHS accused Roberts of fleeing from agents in his car on Friday after they approached him. Iowa State Patrol helped ICE find him, as well as his abandoned vehicle. A loaded handgun was inside the car, according to DHS.

Roberts has existing weapon possession charges from 2020, the department said. He entered the United States in 1999 on a student visa. An immigration judge issued his final removal order in 2024. Parents in the school district that he oversaw, which includes 60 schools, should be alarmed that he was hired without work authorization, DHS said.

How did the school district respond to his arrest? State officials revoked his education license on Sunday. The school board placed him on administrative leave that same day, local news reported. Its website on Monday listed Matt Smith as interim superintendent.

On Friday, the school district tried to verify information that was only recently made public,  Des Moines School Board chairwoman Jackie Norris said at a news conference. Roberts was an integral part of the school community for two years since he was hired, she said. He had held other educational leadership roles in districts across the United States over the last 20 years, she said.

Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Des Moines on Friday to protest Roberts’ detainment, according to local news.

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