Officials place Des Moines schools leader on leave after his arrest by
immigration agents
[September 29, 2025]
By SCOTT McFETRIDGE
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials put the leader of Iowa's largest
school district on administrative leave Saturday, a day after federal
immigration agents arrested him because they said he was in the country
illegally.
The Des Moines school board voted unanimously to place Superintendent
Ian Roberts on paid leave during a three-minute-long special meeting.
The board said Roberts was not available to carry out his duties for the
30,000-student district and stated that officials would reassess his
status after getting more information.
After the meeting, school board president Jackie Norris read a
statement, saying word of Roberts' arrest Friday made for a “jarring
day” but noting that board members still didn't have all the facts.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said agents detained Roberts
because he was in the country illegally, didn't have authorization to
work and was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024. ICE agents
stopped Roberts while he was driving a school-issued vehicle, and the
agency said he then fled into a wooded area before being apprehended
with help from Iowa State Patrol officers.
He was held in the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City, in northwest
Iowa, about 150 miles from Des Moines.
“I want to be clear, no one here was aware of any citizenship or
immigration issues that Dr. Roberts may have been facing,” Norris said.
“The accusations ICE had made against Dr. Roberts are very serious, and
we are taking them very seriously.”
Norris said Roberts has retained a Des Moines law firm to represent him.
Lawyer Alfredo Parrish confirmed his firm was representing Roberts but
declined to comment on his case.
Norris also repeated that the district had done a background check on
Roberts before he was hired that didn't indicate any problems and that
he signed a form affirming he was a U.S. citizen. A company that aided
in the search for a superintendent in 2023 also hired another firm to
conduct “comprehensive criminal, credit and background checks” on
Roberts that didn't indicate any citizenship issues, Norris said.
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Des Moines, Iowa, school's administrative offices are shown Friday,
Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott McFetridge)
Also Saturday, the Iowa Department of Education released a statement
saying Roberts stated he was a U.S. citizen when he applied for an
administrator license. The department said the Iowa Board of
Educational Examiners conducted a criminal history check with state
and federal authorities before issuing a license.
The department said it is reviewing the Des Moines district's hiring
procedures for ensuring people are authorized to work in the U.S.
Roberts had previously said he was born to immigrant parents from
Guyana and spent much of his childhood in Brooklyn, New York. He
competed in the 2000 Olympics in track and field for Guyana.
ICE said he entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999.
A former senior Guyanese police official on Saturday remembered
Roberts as a middle-distance runner who could have risen through the
ranks of the South American country’s police force had he not
emigrated to the U.S. decades ago. Retired assistant Guyana Police
Force commissioner Paul Slowe said Roberts entered the Police Force
after graduating from the country’s standard military officers’
course.
"He served for a few years and then left. He was not dismissed or
dishonorably discharged at all; he just moved on,” Slowe told The
Associated Press. “He was a good, promising and disciplined man.”
___
Associated Press writer Bert Wilkinson in Georgetown, Guyana,
contributed to this report.
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