Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts was arrested Friday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under a final order of removal, in a case that is sparking national attention and raising questions about how school districts verify employment eligibility.
ICE said Roberts attempted to flee when agents tried to arrest him, abandoning his car before being located with assistance from Iowa State Patrol. According to ICE, Roberts was carrying a loaded handgun, a fixed-blade knife, and $3,000 in cash at the time of his arrest. The agency says he has a prior firearms violation in Pennsylvania — a hunting rifle incident that he disclosed at every district he worked for — and has been living and working in the U.S. without authorization since his student visa expired in 1999.
Due to his heritage, Roberts also represented Guyana in the 2000 Sydney Olympics as a mid-distance runner. His bio — now scrubbed from the district’s website and only available on archives — said he was born to Guyanese immigrants and grew up in New York, before teaching and serving as an administrator in Missouri, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Washington, D.C.
Des Moines Public Schools placed Roberts on administrative leave and named Associate Superintendent Matt Smith as interim superintendent. The district emphasized that Roberts had “passed comprehensive background checks” and submitted all required hiring documentation.
That includes the federal I-9 form — paperwork required by U.S. law that employers must complete for every new hire to verify identity and work eligibility. The district says Roberts presented valid documents when hired, a process that must be repeated every time someone takes a new position in a school district.
Roberts has worked in education for decades, including leadership roles in Baltimore and Philadelphia, raising questions about how he was repeatedly cleared to work if a federal removal order had been in place since 2024.
In Iowa, parents, students, and community members have staged demonstrations outside district offices and city hall, calling for Roberts’s release and accusing ICE of overreach. Protesters argue that his record of service in public education should weigh heavily against deportation.
Community members and education officials are also calling for clarity, saying the case exposes potential gaps in communication between federal immigration authorities and local school systems.
Roberts remains in federal custody while legal proceedings continue.
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