DES MOINES, IOWA — Ian Andre Roberts, superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, has been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for allegedly overstaying his visa and unlawfully possessing a firearm.
ICE officials say Roberts, a citizen of Guyana, entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999, but his legal right to work expired in 2020. A federal deportation order was issued against him in 2024.
Roberts, who leads Iowa’s largest school district—serving nearly 30,000 students—was arrested on Friday on a fugitive warrant and is currently held in an immigration detention facility near Des Moines.
According to ICE, Roberts was found with a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash, and a hunting knife. He allegedly fled from officers in a district-owned vehicle, which was later found abandoned. He was apprehended with assistance from the Iowa State Patrol.
Authorities are also referring the firearms investigation to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It is illegal for undocumented individuals to possess firearms in the U.S.
ICE noted that Roberts has a prior weapons charge from February 2020.
Roberts’ immigration and legal status raises serious questions about how he was hired to lead the state’s largest school district while under a final deportation order and lacking work authorization.
“How this illegal alien was hired… is beyond comprehension and should alarm the parents of that school district,” said ICE Director Sam Olson.
The school district has acknowledged the arrest but said they have not been fully briefed by authorities.
School Board Chair Jackie Norris said,
“There is much we do not know… But what we do know is Dr. Roberts has been an integral part of our school community since he joined two years ago.”
Roberts, who previously competed for Guyana in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, holds degrees from institutions including Georgetown and Harvard, and has served as an educator in four U.S. states.
A school biography says he was born to immigrant parents, raised in Brooklyn, and “enjoys hunting.”
It is currently unclear whether Roberts has retained legal representation. ICE has not yet announced a date for immigration court proceedings.
