Des Moines Public Schools superintendent detained by ICE
The superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Friday, according to the school district.
ICE said Ian Roberts was in the country illegally from Guyana and was working as a superintendent despite having "a final order of removal and no work authorization."
When officers conducting a "targeted enforcement operation" tried to approach Roberts in his car on Friday, the superintendent sped away, and the officers later found his car abandoned, ICE said.
Police helped find Roberts, and when he was taken into custody, the superintendent was in possession of a loaded handgun, a fixed-blade hunting knife and $3,000 in cash, ICE said.
Roberts entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999 and a judge gave him a "final order of removal" in May 2024, ICE said in a statement.
Roberts has weapon possession charges from February 2020, the agency said.
School district officials said in a statement they didn't have information on "next potential steps" for Roberts.
Roberts joined the Des Moines district in July 2023 and "held educational leadership positions in districts across the U.S. for 20 years," school board chair Jackie Norris said at a news conference Friday.
"There is new information that has been made public that we did not know, and have not been able to verify as to whether that information is accurate," she said.
"There is much we do not know," she said. "However, what we do know is that Dr. Roberts has been an integral part of our school community since he joined over two years ago. During his time with our district, he has shown up in ways big and small, and has advocated for students and staff and begun introducing concepts that will help us reimagine education for future generations of Des Moines students."
Roberts got his start as a special education teacher and completed his first doctorate on the importance of including special education students in the classroom, according to Nicole Price, who has written several books with Roberts.
"You can hardly go out with him in any capacity where people are not excited to see him and talk to him," Price told ABC News. "Children light up when they see him, and I believe that is because of how much he cares."
Price said she's known Roberts in a professional capacity for 11 years and does not know anything about his immigration status.
Price said Roberts also works as a coach at her leadership development business.
"I just believe that he's an exceptional coach, and so that's why I've always used him in a consulting capacity," she said.
