ICE arrests leader of Iowa's largest school district, says he was living
and working in US illegally
[September 27, 2025]
By HANNAH FINGERHUT and RYAN J. FOLEY
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal immigration agents targeted the
well-liked leader of Iowa’s largest school district in a traffic stop
Friday and arrested him after he fled into the woods, leaving educators
and community members stunned.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Des Moines Public School
Superintendent Ian Roberts was in the country illegally and had no work
authorization. Roberts, who is from Guyana in South America, was
considered an ICE fugitive because he was subject to a final removal
order issued in 2024, the agency said.
ICE said that it targeted Roberts for arrest by initiating a traffic
stop on Friday while he was driving in his school-issued vehicle. After
he fled, officers discovered his vehicle abandoned near a wooded area.
He was eventually located and taken into ICE custody with the help of
Iowa State Patrol officers. Roberts was brought to Woodbury County's
jail in northwest Iowa late Friday afternoon, according to jail and ICE
records. It was unclear if Roberts had an attorney to represent him.
Phil Roeder, the district’s spokesperson, said he was supposed to meet
Roberts at a school event Friday morning, but Roberts sent a text saying
he could not make it. Roeder said he got a video call from Roberts soon
after and watched officials detain him.
Roeder told The Associated Press that the district has seen “nothing
that would suggest that he's not a citizen.” The district said Friday
afternoon that a third party was hired to conduct a comprehensive
background check on Roberts and that Roberts completed an I-9, which
requires workers to present documents showing that they were authorized
to work. District officials also stated they had no knowledge of an
order of removal issued in 2024.
Roberts, who has described himself as a longtime gun owner and hunter,
was in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed-blade
hunting knife when arrested, ICE said.
“This should be a wake-up call for our communities to the great work
that our officers are doing every day to remove public safety threats,”
ICE enforcement and removal operations regional official Sam Olson said
in a statement. “How this illegal alien was hired without work
authorization, a final order of removal, and a prior weapons charge is
beyond comprehension and should alarm the parents of that school
district.”
Roberts is an experienced educator
Des Moines school officials said that they were still gathering
information about the situation, which they called legally complex. They
described Roberts as a dynamic leader who connected with students of all
backgrounds.
Jackie Norris, school board president, said Roberts has been an
“integral part of our school community” who has “shown up in ways big
and small.”
A longtime leader at school districts across the nation, the 54-year-old
began his term as superintendent of Des Moines schools in July 2023. In
that position, he oversaw a district that serves more than 30,000
students and nearly 5,000 employees. The state board of educational
examiners issued Roberts a professional administrator license in 2023,
which remains active.
He earned a $270,000 annual base salary, according to his first contract
with the district, which was in effect until June 30 this year.
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds was made aware Friday morning that Roberts
was in custody, according to her spokesperson Mason Mauro. Reynolds was
in contact with state and federal authorities.
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This photo provided by WOI Local 5 News in September 2025 shows Des
Moines schools Superintendent Ian Roberts. (WOI Local 5 News via AP)
In a joint statement, the presidents of unions representing teachers
and other school employees in Des Moines and across the state said
they were shocked by Roberts’ detention. They described his
compassion for all students of all backgrounds as “a beacon of light
in one of the state’s most diverse school districts.”
Before coming to Iowa, Roberts had previously worked as
superintendent of the Millcreek Township School District in
Pennsylvania. The district said in an email they were aware of the
reports but declined further comment.
Roberts is the son of immigrant parents from Guyana
A biography for Roberts listed on the district’s website says he was
born to immigrant parents from Guyana and spent much of his
childhood in Brooklyn, New York.
Coppin State University’s website features an alumni profile of
Roberts, who graduated from the school in Baltimore in 1998. In it,
Roberts said his father immigrated to the United States in the
1980s, and his mother immigrated in the early 2000s.
ICE said that Roberts entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999.
The next year, he competed for Guyana in the Olympics in track and
field.
Pleaded guilty to a gun infraction
ICE pointed to a prior weapons charge for Roberts but provided no
details.
Court records in Pennsylvania show that Roberts pleaded guilty in
January 2022 to a minor infraction for unlawfully possessing a
loaded firearm in a vehicle, and was fined $100 plus court costs.
The case stemmed from a citation in Erie County issued the prior
month by a Pennsylvania Game Commission officer, who stopped Roberts
as he was finishing a day of deer hunting on state lands.
Roberts said at the time he was a longtime licensed hunter and gun
owner, and that he left his hunting rifle on the seat of his vehicle
in plain view to ensure the officer did not feel threatened during
their interaction. He said that he was shocked when the officer
cited him for doing so, but that he pleaded guilty to avoid any
distraction. He questioned whether his dark skin may have played a
role in the case.
“I may not appear to be the ‘type of man’ who would enjoy deer
season in Pennsylvania, in fact, I am and have been hunting for more
than 20 years,” Roberts wrote on a social media post then.
Roeder said the district was aware of the 2022 charge and it had
been addressed early on.
It was the second time in two days that an aggressive action by ICE
shocked local officials in Iowa. On Thursday, agents in plain
clothes who only identified themselves as “federal agents” tackled a
man at a grocery store in downtown Iowa City, pinning him to the
floor and handcuffing him as shocked shoppers looked on.
A crowd of people gathered Friday evening outside the federal
building in downtown Des Moines to protest Roberts' detention.
People also gathered Friday in Iowa City to protest the detention of
the man in Iowa City.
___
Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.
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