Ian Roberts, the superintendent of Des Moines Public Faculties and chief of Iowa’s largest faculty district, was arrested Friday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement after fleeing into the woods throughout a site visitors cease, surprising educators and the local people. Roberts, initially from Guyana, was in america illegally and had no work authorization, ICE mentioned. He was topic to a remaining removing order issued in 2024. ICE mentioned Roberts was stopped whereas driving his school-issued automobile. After abandoning the automobile close to a wooded space, he was situated and brought into custody with assist from Iowa State Patrol officers. Officers haven’t disclosed the place Roberts is being held or whether or not he has authorized illustration. Phil Roeder, spokesperson for the district, mentioned he had been scheduled to satisfy Roberts at a college occasion however obtained a textual content from him saying he couldn’t attend. Roeder later witnessed the detention by way of a video name. “The district has seen nothing that may recommend that he isn’t a citizen,” he mentioned. ICE reported that Roberts was carrying a loaded handgun, $3,000 in money, and a fixed-blade looking knife on the time of his arrest. Sam Olson, ICE regional official, mentioned, “How this unlawful alien was employed with out work authorization, a remaining order of removing, and a previous weapons cost is past comprehension and will alarm the mother and father of that college district.” Roberts, 54, started as Des Moines superintendent in July 2023, overseeing a district with greater than 30,000 college students and almost 5,000 employees. He earned a $270,000 annual base wage and holds an expert administrator license issued by the state board of academic examiners in 2023. District leaders described him as a dynamic and engaged educator. Jackie Norris, faculty board president, known as Roberts “an integral a part of our college neighborhood” who has “proven up in methods massive and small.” Union leaders in Iowa mentioned they have been shocked by the arrest and praised Roberts as “an incredible advocate for college kids, households, employees, and the neighborhood.” Roberts was born to immigrant mother and father from Guyana and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Coppin State College in 1998 and competed for Guyana within the 2000 Olympics. ICE mentioned he entered the U.S. on a pupil visa in 1999. Court docket data present Roberts pleaded responsible in Pennsylvania in January 2022 to unlawfully possessing a loaded firearm in a automobile whereas looking. He was fined $100 plus courtroom prices and mentioned on the time he left his looking rifle seen in his automobile to keep away from alarming officers. This arrest follows one other aggressive ICE motion in Iowa on Thursday, when brokers in plain garments detained a person at a grocery retailer in Iowa Metropolis, prompting considerations over the company’s strategy within the state.
