Ian Roberts, superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, was arrested by ICE during a traffic stop for being in the U.S. illegally. Despite holding a professional license and a background check, Roberts was found with a loaded handgun and cash. His detention has shocked the community.
Who is Ian Roberts?
When Ian 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.
Ian 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.Ian Roberts also expanded the district’s Montessori preschools beyond Cowles Elementary School in Windsor Heights.
Ian Roberts 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, Ian 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, Ian Robertswas a track and field athlete who competed for Guyana in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Ian Roberts is known to challenge DMPS students to footraces, often dressed in his signature suits with matching pocket squares. Ian Roberts 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, Ian 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, Ian Roberts 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.
Ian Roberts was Coppin State’s first Olympic athlete, according to the story.
Arrested with a ‘licensed loaded handgun’
Ian Roberts, who has described himself as a longtime gun owner and hunter, had a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed-blade hunting knife when arrested, ICE said.
“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 enforcement and removal operations regional official Sam Olson said in a statement. “How this illegal alien was hired without work authorisation, a final order of removal, and a prior weapons charge is beyond comprehension and should alarm the parents of that school district.
Roberts is an experienced educator
Leaders of the Des Moines district said that they were still gathering information about the situation, which they called legally complex. They described Roberts as a dynamic leader who connected with students of all backgrounds.
Jackie Norris, school board president, said Ian Roberts has been an “integral part of our school community” who has “shown up in ways big and small.”
A longtime leader at school districts across the nation, the 54-year-old began his term as superintendent of Des Moines schools in July 2023. In that position, he oversaw a district that serves more than 30,000 students and nearly 5,000 employees. The state board of educational examiners issued Ian Roberts a professional administrator license in 2023, which remains active.
He earned a $270,000 annual base salary, according to his first contract with the district, which was in effect until June 30 this year.
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds was made aware Friday morning that Ian Roberts was in custody, according to her spokesperson Mason Mauro. Reynolds was in contact with state and federal authorities.
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.”
Before coming to Iowa, Ian Roberts had previously worked as superintendent of the Millcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania.
Roberts is the son of immigrant parents from Guyana
A biography for Ian 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, Ian Roberts said his father immigrated to the United States in the 1980s, and his mother immigrated in the early 2000s.
ICE said that Roberts entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999. The next year, Ian Roberts competed for Guyana in the Olympics in track and field.
What are the earlier weapon charges for Roberts?
ICE referenced an earlier weapons charge for Roberts, but did not provide specific details. Court records from Pennsylvania reveal that Roberts pleaded guilty in January 2022 to a minor offence of unlawfully possessing a loaded firearm in a vehicle, resulting in a $100 fine plus court costs.
The charge followed a citation from a Pennsylvania Game Commission officer who stopped Roberts after he had finished deer hunting on state land the previous month.
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.
Roberts overstayed a visa from 1999
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 26, 2025
Arrested on weapons charge in 2020
Selected DM Superintendent in 2023
Deportation order for him since 2024
Evaded arrest by ICE officers in 2025
Ian Andre Roberts is the man in charge of the largest public school district in Iowa. WTF is… pic.twitter.com/fo1GBruX05
“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.
Roeder said the district was aware of the 2022 charge and it had been addressed early on.
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 only identified themselves as “federal agents” tackled a man at a grocery store in downtown Iowa City, pinning him to the floor and handcuffing him as shocked shoppers looked on.
Roberts initially held in Iowa jail
According to ICE’s website, Roberts is in the agency’s custody. Initially, he was listed as detained at the Pottawattamie County Jail, although the listing was updated later Friday to remove any mention of a specific detention facility.
The Iowa jail would have put him in close proximity to the Omaha Immigration Court, the closest federal immigration court to Des Moines.
Data from Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a research organization at Syracuse University, from early September showed Pottawattamie County Jail in Council Bluffs had a daily average of 37 ICE detainees. The jail typically holds an annual average of 38 people for ICE, Pottawattamie County Jail Administrator Trisha Bernhards said.
Pottawattamie County Jail can hold somewhere between 95 to 100 federal inmates, she said. Thirty-five beds are for ICE detainees.
Superintendent was given final order of removal in 2024, DHS says
Roberts entered the US on a student visa in 1999 and was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in May 2024, according to the DHS statement. He had existing weapon charges from 2020, the agency added.
Des Moines Public Schools said it was unaware of the order of removal but Roberts did inform the school board of a firearms offense related to a hunting rifle during his hiring process. The district said in a statement Roberts “provided sufficient context and explanation of the situation to move forward in the hiring process.”
Public records show Roberts pleaded guilty to a weapon charge in Pennsylvania in 2022. CNN has been unable to verify whether Roberts has a separate charge from 2020.
The district also said Roberts submitted an employment eligibility verification form and an I-9 as part of the hiring process.
“The district has not been formally notified by ICE about this matter, nor have we been able to talk with Dr. Roberts since his detention,” district spokesperson Phil Roeder said.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations St. Paul Field Office Director Sam Olson said in a statement Robertson’s arrest 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’s online detainee locator system shows Roberts was born in Guyana and is being held at a county jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Roberts was named Des Moines Public Schools superintendent in 2023, according to the district’s website. He was “born to immigrant parents from Guyana, and spent most of his formative years in Brooklyn, NY,” the website reads.
Before becoming an educator, the superintendent was an Olympic athlete and competed in track and field at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
Roberts’ long educational career has included positions in New York City; Baltimore; Washington, DC; St. Louis; Oakland, California; and Erie, Pennsylvania, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Among the crowd protesting Roberts’ arrest Friday was district teacher Mary Pat LaMair, who said she was excited to see the display of support.
“I just think it’s really important that we take care of one another, and we seem to be at a spot where that’s not what’s happening,” LaMair told CNN affiliate KCCI. She added, “It’s important for people to know that the general public, I think, is not okay with what’s happening.”
The Directors Council — a nonprofit group serving Des Moines’ Black community — identified Roberts as a board member and offered him their “full support” in a post on Facebook.
Roberts “has been a trusted partner, a dedicated advocate for equity, and an unwavering supporter of families and youth in Polk County,” reads the post. “His contributions to both The Directors Council and the wider community are immeasurable, and we stand with him during this uncertain moment.”
In a video statement posted on their Facebook page, organizers from the Iowa Movement for Migrant Justice said news of the superintendent’s detention was shocking and scary for immigrant communities.
“We know in advance that our families right now are afraid that if they go to pick up their kids, if they send them to school, if immigrant agents are going to go take their kids out of school,” Elizabeth Balcarcel said in the video statement. “There are many questions, many doubts.”
The Des Moines School Board has scheduled a special closed-session meeting on Saturday to discuss the arrest and Roberts’ status with the district.
Superintendent Ian Roberts’ supporters react
The Directors Council, an umbrella group of several nonprofits focused on Des Moines’ Black community, said in a statement that Roberts is “a valued member of our board” and it was seeking details on the circumstances of his detention.
“Dr. Roberts has been a trusted partner, a dedicated advocate for equity, and an unwavering supporter of families and youth in Polk County,” the statement posted to Facebook read. His contributions to both The Directors Council and the wider community are immeasurable, and we stand with him during this uncertain moment.”
Alison Hoeman, founder of the local nonprofit Des Moines Refugees Support, said she was stunned when she heard the news and that her phone “blew up” this morning with texts from friends and volunteers already looking for ways to support Roberts. She has learned from families of Des Moines Public School of students calling their parents, asking, “‘Nothing’s going to happen to Dr. Roberts, right?’”
“You know it’s the Black and Brown kids who are worried,” she said. “If it’s Ian Roberts who’s in trouble, what does that mean for them?”
Mazie Stilwell, executive director of the liberal group Progress Iowa, demanded “answers and appropriate action” from elected leaders in a statement.
“No Iowan is safe. We’re living under a fascist regime because Nunn, Miller-Meeks, Hinson and every single Iowa Member of Congress has been in lockstep with the MAGA administration that is terrorizing our communities,” said Stilwell, who noted she is a DMPS parent. “President Trump is willing to use political power against anyone who disagrees with him.”
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