[ad_1]
The superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents on Friday, prompting shock among fellow educators.
Ian Roberts, the superintendent of Des Moines public schools (DMPS), was apprehended on Friday morning, according to the district’s board chair. “We have no confirmed information as to why Dr Roberts is being detained or the next potential steps,” said Jackie Norris in a press release on Friday. The district also named an interim superintendent.
Roberts appears to be held at the Pottawattamie county jail, about two hours west of Des Moines, according to the Ice online detainee database. The database lists Roberts’s country of birth as Guyana.
In a statement to the Guardian, DHS said that Roberts was arrested because he had “a final order of removal and no work authorization”.
“During a targeted enforcement operation on Sept 26, 2025, officers approached Roberts in his vehicle after identifying himself, but he sped away. Officers later discovered his vehicle abandoned near a wooded area. State Patrol assisted in locating the subject and he was taken into ICE custody,” the agency shared in a statement. “Roberts has existing weapon possession charges from February 5, 2020. Roberts entered the United States in 1999 on a student visa and was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in May of 2024.”
Norris said a state board had granted Roberts a license to serve as superintendent in 2023 and that the district has been unable to verify Ice’s claims about his immigration status.
In a joint statement, the presidents of unions representing teachers and other school employees in Iowa said that Roberts had been a “tremendous advocate for students, families, staff, and the community” and expressed shock at his arrest.
“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,” said Joshua Brown, the Iowa State Education Association president, and Anne Cross, the Des Moines Education Association president, in a joint statement. “It is a dark and unsettling time in our country. This incident has created tremendous fear for DMPS students, families, and staff.”
Matt Smith, a Des Moines schools official who was appointed Friday to serve as interim superintendent, said members of the community felt “sad, outraged and helpless” after learning of Roberts’s detention.
In media interviews and biographies, Roberts has said he was raised in Brooklyn, New York, by Guyanese immigrant parents. A 2023 statement from the district announcing Roberts’s appointment said he was “born to immigrant parents from Guyana, and spent most of his formative years in Brooklyn”. In 2023, he became the first person of color to be named to the position of superintendent in Iowa’s largest school district. He is a former Olympic athlete who competed as a middle-distance runner for Guyana in the 2000 Sydney games.
Court records in Pennsylvania show that Roberts pleaded guilty in January 2022 to a minor infraction for unlawfully possessing a loaded firearm in a vehicle, and was fined. The case stemmed from a citation in Erie county issued the prior month by a Pennsylvania game commission officer, who stopped Roberts as he was finishing a day of deer hunting on state lands.
Roberts said at the time he was a longtime licensed hunter and gun owner, and that he had left his hunting rifle on the seat of his vehicle in plain view to ensure the officer did not feel threatened during their interaction. He said that he was shocked when the officer cited him for doing so, but that he pleaded guilty to avoid any distraction. He questioned whether his dark skin may have played a role in the case.
“I may not appear to be the ‘type of man’ who would enjoy deer season in Pennsylvania, in fact, I am and have been hunting for more than 20 years,” Roberts wrote in a social media post then.
Earlier this year, after Donald Trump’s administration removed restrictions on Ice officers searching schools, churches and other sensitive locations, Roberts and the leaders of other regional school districts issued guidelines for parents and families enrolled in public schools.
In a letter to parents, Roberts said that schools would comply with warrants from immigration officers, and that agents seeking information about students would be directed to administrators.
“Everyday Des Moines Public Schools does everything we can within our legal and moral authority to support students, which is always our top priority,” he said.
The district said it was awaiting updates on Roberts’s situation. “We know you have many questions, and we will provide updates as we learn more confirmed information. We thank you and appreciate your support,” said Norris.
-
This article was amended on 26 September 2025. An earlier version said Ian Roberts was born in Brooklyn, based on past interviews. However, a 2023 statement from the district says he was “born to immigrant parents from Guyana, and spent most of his formative years in Brooklyn”.
[ad_2]
