Des Moines schools’ superintendent detained by immigration agents, school board says

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal immigration agents have detained the head administrator of Iowa's capital city public schools after a "targeted enforcement operation," authorities said Friday.

Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Friday morning in possession of a loaded handgun, cash and a hunting knife, according to a statement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Authorities said he tried to evade arrest.

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ICE officials said Roberts was in the U.S. on an expired student visa and was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in May 2024. The agency said that he had “existing weapons charges” from 2020, but it did not release further details.

“This suspect was arrested in possession of a loaded weapon in a vehicle provided by Des Moines Public Schools after fleeing federal law enforcement,” said Sam Olson, director of the St. Paul enforcement and removal field office. “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."

The Iowa Department of Public Safety said Friday the agency received a request to assist federal agents “in locating an individual who fled from a traffic stop initiated by their agents,” according to a statement by spokesperson Tawny Kruse.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds was made aware of the situation this morning, spokesperson Mason Mauro said in a statement.

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 $100 plus court costs. 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 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 on a social media post then.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement records show Roberts in their custody at a county jail in western Iowa. But a Pottawattamie County jail employee said he is not currently at their jail. The jail in Council Bluffs is about 130 miles west of Des Moines.

Roberts, 52, began his term as superintendent of Des Moines schools, which serve 30,000 students, in July 2023. A biography for Roberts listed on the district's website says he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana and spent much of his childhood in Brooklyn, New York.

Coppin State University's website features an alumni profile of Roberts, who graduated from the school in Baltimore in 1998. In it, Roberts said his father immigrated to the United States in the 1980s, and his mother immigrated in the early 2000s.

In a joint statement, the presidents of unions representing teachers and other school employees in Des Moines and across the state said they were shocked by Roberts’ detention. They said he had been a "tremendous advocate for students, families, staff, and the community.”

“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 the statement by Iowa State Education Association President Joshua Brown and Des Moines Education Association President Anne Cross. “It is a dark and unsettling time in our country. This incident has created tremendous fear for DMPS students, families, and staff.”

It was the second time in two days that an aggressive action by ICE shocked local officials in Iowa. On Thursday, agents in plain clothes who refused to identify their affiliation violently arrested a man who was working at a grocery store in downtown Iowa City, pinning him to the floor and handcuffing him as shocked shoppers looked on.