Iowa School Board Revokes License of Superintendent Arrested by ICE

The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners revoked an Iowa school district superintendent’s license on Sept. 29 following his arrest for living and working in the country illegally.

The board stated in a letter that Ian Roberts was ineligible to hold the license because “you no longer possess legal presence in the United States.” Roberts was the superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, the state’s largest school district.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained Roberts last week. An immigration judge had issued a final removal order for him in May 2024.

Roberts, 54, a native of Guyana who entered the United States on a student visa in 1999, is being held at an Iowa jail.

ICE said that on Sept. 26, Roberts fled after a traffic stop in Des Moines and was apprehended with the help of the Iowa State Patrol. The agency said Roberts had a loaded handgun, a hunting knife, and $3,000 cash in his district-issued vehicle when arrested.

Des Moines school officials said they didn’t know Roberts was in the country illegally, and that he had signed a form verifying his eligibility to work when he was hired in 2023. He had been identified as a candidate for the job by a search firm, and a “comprehensive background check” was completed as part of the process, the district said.

The state board that granted Roberts a license to serve as superintendent said the process included background checks by the state police and the FBI.

The Des Moines school board put Roberts on paid administrative leave during a brief special meeting on Sept. 27 and held another meeting on Sept. 29 to consider changing Roberts’ leave status to unpaid, citing the revocation of his license.

“New information and confirmed facts will continue to inform our decisions as we develop a path forward,” said Jackie Norris, chairwoman of the Des Moines Public Schools Board. “Two things can be true at the same time—Dr. Roberts was an effective and well-respected leader and there are serious questions related to his citizenship and ability to legally perform his duties as superintendent.”

Roberts’s arrest came as a shock to everyone, Norris said.

ICE said it had asked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate how Roberts obtained a handgun. People in the country illegally are ineligible to possess firearms.

Roberts had a history of gun ownership, however, and had been cited in 2021 in Pennsylvania and fined $100 for storing a loaded hunting rifle in his vehicle.

ICE has said that Roberts also had a separate, pending weapons charge dating to February 2020, but has not provided further details about the incident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.