ICE arrests leader of Iowa’s largest school district, says he was living and working in US illegally

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. It is unclear where Roberts was being held Friday afternoon or if he 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.”

Roberts, who has described himself as a longtime gun owner and hunter, was in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 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

Leaders of the Des Moines district said that they were unaware of some details that were released Friday and 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.

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 said he had been a “tremendous advocate for students, families, staff, and the community.”

Before coming to Iowa, Roberts had previously worked as superintendent of the Millcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania.

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.

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Associated Press writer Ryan J. Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, contributed to this report.