This is a developing story and will be updated.
Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts was detained Friday morning by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Roberts was arrested after fleeing ICE agents who initiated a traffic stop. The Department of Homeland Security said Roberts did not have work authorization and was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in May 2024.
A listing of detainees on the ICE website gives Guyana as Roberts’ country of birth. A jail employee confirmed he is being held at the Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center in Sioux City.
Roberts was named superintendent of DMPS in 2023. He is the first Black superintendent to lead the district, which is the largest in the state. A district profile states he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana and grew up in Brooklyn, New York.
The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners revoked Roberts' administrative license Sunday.
DMPS votes to put Roberts on leave 1 day after arrest
The DMPS School Board voted unanimously at a special meeting Saturday to put Roberts on paid administrative leave.
Board Chair Jackie Norris read a statement after the vote, saying the arrest came as a shock to the school district, as it had taken steps to verify Robert’s employment eligibility.
"No one here was aware of any citizenship or immigration issues that Dr. Roberts may have been facing. The accusations ICE has made against Dr. Roberts are very serious and we are taking them very seriously," she said.
The district is cooperating with authorities and is still gathering information on what is happening, she said.
"Two things can be true. We must support our interim superintendent and staff as they lead 35,000 students and staff on Monday, because our collective role is to educate and support our students and their families," Norris said. "And we must continue to pursue the facts in this case and understand our school community is still processing this very significant issue."
DMPS announced Friday that Associate Superintendent Matt Smith will serve as interim superintendent until further notice. He previously held the position during the 2022-2023 school year.
Smith said on Friday that Roberts’ arrest is challenging on many levels, and the district may not have additional answers right away.
“We stand firm with our community, many of whom are feeling sad, outraged and helpless,” he said. “We understand, as we, too, are devastated by the news of his detainment.”
Roberts' arrest and immigration status
DHS said Roberts entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999, although he was previously a student at Coppin State University in Baltimore.
The department also said there were previous weapons charges against Roberts dating back to 2020. It's not clear if the department was referring to charges from 2021 in Pennsylvania. At that time, Roberts pleaded guilty and paid a $100 fine for having a loaded firearm in his vehicle.
Roberts was found Friday with a loaded handgun, according to ICE, along with a hunting knife and $3,000 cash. Federal law prohibits an individual in the U.S. without legal status from possessing a firearm.
“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 St. Paul Field Office Director Sam Olson said in a statement.
Des Moines school officials did not answer questions from media at the news conference, citing the “legal complexities” of the situation.
In an update shared later, the district said it was aware of a previous firearm charge against Roberts, but it was not aware of Roberts receiving a final order of removal in May 2024.
DMPS Communications Director Phil Roeder said in an email the district has not been formally notified by ICE about Roberts’ arrest, and district staff have not been able to speak with Roberts. He said a third-party background check was conducted before Roberts’ hiring, and Roberts completed the I-9 employment eligibility verification form and submitted required documentation.
Roberts disclosed a firearm charge related to a hunting rifle during the hiring process, Roeder said, and he “provided sufficient context and explanation of the situation to move forward in the hiring process.”
In response to ICE’s allegation that a loaded gun was found in Roberts' district-owned vehicle, Roeder said DMPS policy states “weapons are prohibited on school grounds or at a school sponsored or school related activity.”
A spokesperson for the governor's office said Gov. Kim Reynolds is aware Roberts was taken into custody and is in contact with state and federal authorities. On Saturday, Reynolds issued a statement calling the arrest “shocking,” pointing specifically to his “attempt to evade authorities” and the items law enforcement said Roberts was in possession of.
“The investigation is still underway, so I won’t comment on details of the case at this time," she said. “But I want to be clear: we are a nation of laws that must be enforced. Those who believe immigration laws are optional are dangerously wrong. When laws are ignored, or when people are led to believe there will be no consequences, our communities are at risk.”
Roberts has worked closely with state education officials on school improvement initiatives.
Community members show their support for Roberts
Word that Roberts was detained was first shared in an email to the district on Friday around 12:20 p.m.
By 4 p.m., a crowd advocating for Roberts’ release began to grow outside the Neal Smith Federal Building in downtown Des Moines. Students, parents and other community members filled the sidewalks around the intersection. Some people spilled into the street. They chanted “Free Dr. Roberts” and “No justice, no peace.” Others held signs opposing the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies.
Des Moines community member Isaiah Stegman, 45, said even if Roberts did violate laws, involving ICE isn’t the way to handle the situation. He said Roberts contributed to many different communities.
“Regardless of what might’ve been the circumstances of how he first came here or where he was born, he is one of us,” Stegman said.
Rachel Gulick, 39, was born and raised in Des Moines. She grew up in DMPS schools and is proud of her education. She said, in her experience, the district has always been thorough in its background checks.
“We’re talking about homecoming weekend for so many schools,” Gulick said. “I want this community, this state, this nation, to think about what this does to our children when they are seeing the leadership of their communities, of their school systems, being taken off the street and incarcerated.”
At Corinthian Baptist Church in Des Moines, hundreds gathered Friday night to show solidarity with Roberts. Activists, elected officials and clergy members gave speeches calling on people to support district personnel and to commit to advocate for immigrants.
Trinh Le-Coulter is a graduate of Des Moines Public Schools and a parent of a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old in the district. She recalled how her kids were motivated in a fundraising campaign when the prize was to race against Roberts, a former Olympian.
Le-Coulter said she tried explaining to her children what had happened.
“I asked them, ‘Hey, do you do you remember Dr. Roberts?’” she said. “And then they said, ‘Yep. Dr. Roberts was the one who raced, us. Dr. Roberts is the one with the cool shoes. Dr. Robert is the one who read me a book.’ And I said, ‘Yes, Dr. Roberts is all of those things.’”
Le-Coulter said she was careful to not let her kids ask questions.
“It's very hard right now to try to explain things to my 9 and 6 year old, especially to my 9 year old, because at some point she's going to make that connection that if this can happen to Dr. Roberts, this can happen to her mom, who was not born here,” Le-Coulter said.
Christopher Ramirez-Chavez, a student at Drake University, graduated from East High School earlier this year and served on a committee that drafted plans aimed at revitalizing the district. He said Roberts wrote him a recommendation letter and offered him his “DMPS” pin. Ramirez-Chavez called Roberts a devout public servant and leader who was dedicated to serving children.
“Just knowing him personally, it's such a shame to see those headlines, especially from other pundits or ICE official statements and with regards [to] so what he might have been or whatnot have been doing,” Ramirez-Chavez said. “And it's very disheartening to see that it's come home close here at Des Moines, Iowa.”
Representatives for the local and state teachers' unions said Roberts’ arrest has created fear for students, families and staff of DMPS.
“Since being hired as superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, we have known Dr. Roberts to be a tremendous advocate for students, families, staff and the community,” Iowa State Education Association President Joshua Brown and Des Moines Education Association President Anne Cross said in a joint statement. “His leadership and compassion for all students, regardless of background, identity or family origin, are a beacon of light in one of the state's most diverse school districts.”
Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, a nonprofit that offers legal services to immigrants, said they have been made aware of the arrest and are awaiting more details.
“As ICE continues to terrorize our communities and disappear our community members, this latest escalation highlights the need for communities to stand together and defend against ICE attacks,” the statement from the nonprofit reads.
Who is Ian Roberts?
When Roberts arrived at DMPS in July 2023, he faced a slew of challenges. The district was divided over the actions taken by the previous superintendent, Thomas Ahart, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, DMPS kept students and staff out of buildings longer than most other Iowa school districts during the pandemic.
Roberts oversaw the completion of the district’s 4,000-seat Mediacom Stadium, which was a collaboration with Drake University. Four of the district’s five high schools compete there. Roberts also expanded the district’s Montessori preschools beyond Cowles Elementary School in Windsor Heights.
He has been leading the Reimagining Education campaign, a five-year plan that “outlines major changes and improvements designed to strengthen student outcomes” in the district.
In terms of district challenges, Roberts has been tasked with managing an ever-tightening budget, which includes closing several school buildings. Another one of his goals is to raise algebra proficiency rates among Black males.
Before coming to DMPS, Roberts was a track and field athlete who competed for Guyana in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Roberts is known to challenge DMPS students to footraces, often dressed in his signature suits with matching pocket squares. He frequently tells reporters that he enjoys reading, writing, running and hunting — especially Iowa’s deer.
In a Coppin State University alumni story published prior to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Roberts talked about his family’s immigration history. He told the university that his father came to the U.S. in the 1980s, and his mother in the early 2000s. Both parents came in search of better opportunities for themselves and their family, he said at the time. In the story, Roberts gave a lot of credit to his mother for the person he is.
“The way that my mother has lived her life, with a strong spiritual foundation, unbelievable work ethic, humility and an inclination for community activism, served and continues to be an inspiration to me,” Roberts said.
Roberts was Coppin State’s first Olympic athlete, according to the story.
Natalie Krebs contributed to this story.
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This story has been corrected to state that four of the five DMPS high schools compete at the Mediacom Stadium.
