ICE Arrests Iowa School District Superintendent Without Work Authorization

Ian Andre Roberts held two other superintendent positions before Des Moines Public School district, the district’s website said.

This photo provided by WOI Local 5 News in September 2025 shows Des Moines schools Superintendent Ian Roberts. WOI Local 5 News via AP

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Sept. 26 arrested a Guyana national who was serving as the superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district despite being an illegal immigrant and facing a final order of removal from 2024.

According to the agency, Superintendent Ian Andre Roberts was approached by officers in his vehicle after he identified himself. After he allegedly sped away, officers found his vehicle abandoned in a wooded area, and he was eventually taken into custody.

Roberts was allegedly found with a loaded handgun despite having an existing weapon possession charge from 2020, an ICE press release stated. It noted that illegal immigrants are not allowed under the law to possess a firearm and ammunition, and that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would take over the investigation into how Roberts acquired it.

This photo provided by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts on Feb. 26, 2025. ICE via AP

Roberts, who entered the United States on a student visa in 1999, also had $3,000 in cash and a fixed-blade hunting knife, according to ICE.

An immigration judge gave him a final order of removal in May of 2024.

The Associated Press reported that district spokesperson Phil Roeder said the district hadn’t seen anything “that would suggest that he’s not a citizen.”

According to Roeder, Roberts completed an I-9 employment eligibility verification form, which requires documentation of work authorization.

“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 St. Paul Field Office Director Sam Olson said.

“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,” Olson added.

The Des Moines Public School District did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment before publishing time.

The school district’s website states that Roberts started the position in July 2023 after serving as superintendent of another district in Pennsylvania and the St. Louis Public Schools High School Network in Missouri. He served in other positions across the country and was named “George Washington University’s 2013 Washington, D.C. Principal of the Year.”

His own educational background includes receiving degrees from Coppin State University, St. John’s University, and Georgetown University. He also competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, according to the school district. He represented Guyana in the 800-meter race, according to an announcement on the district’s website.

The district described him as an educator with “over two decades of experience” and that he was chosen “following an extensive nationwide search based on a leadership profile developed with input from the school board, teachers, families and others in the school community.”

This photo provided by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows a loaded handgun found in the vehicle of Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. ICE via AP

A letter from January shows Roberts addressing concerns about immigration enforcement across the country.

“Everyday Des Moines Public Schools does everything we can within our legal and moral authority to support students, which is always our top priority,” it read.

It added that the school district had to comply with subpoenas and warrants while there were protocols for referring families to community organizations.

“Those protocols also note that teachers and staff are not to provide legal advice or assistance at any time but rather refer families to organizations such as Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice that can help people get connected with appropriate assistance on immigration issues,” it said.

According to ICE, Roberts was arrested during a targeted enforcement operation. It comes amid broader immigration enforcement efforts in the country, including arrests on Sept. 25 of four illegal immigrants whom ICE noted were convicted child sex predators.