Iowa’s largest school district places superintendent arrested by ICE on unpaid leave
By Michelle Watson, CNN
The board of Iowa’s largest school district switched its superintendent from paid to unpaid leave Monday — three days after he was detained by immigration agents.
The Department of Homeland Security said Ian Roberts, the leader of Des Moines’ schools, was in the country illegally and had existing weapon possession charges.
It’s the latest arrest as immigration enforcement is ramping up nationwide and disrupting daily life for communities across the United States. Officials have pledged to carry out the largest deportation operation in history, put more undocumented immigrants behind bars, and address abuses within the immigration system.
Roberts, who entered the country in 1999 on a student visa, was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in May 2024, according to DHS.
At the time of his arrest, he was “in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife,” the agency said. It’s a violation of federal law to own a firearm and ammunition if an individual doesn’t have legal status in the US.
The superintendent — who has worked in education for the last 20 years — was arrested as part of a “targeted enforcement operation.”
He fled after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers approached him on Friday, according to statements from DHS and the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
“This is an evolving situation, and we are learning new information on an hourly basis from a variety of different sources,” Board Chair Jackie Norris, said Monday during a board meeting while reading from a sheet of paper.
In a news release Monday, the district announced it had learned that the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners had formally revoked Dr. Roberts’ license to work as an educator in Iowa.
“Without such a license, Dr. Roberts is not in compliance with his contract,” Norris said. “That led to our action today, later this meeting to change Dr. Roberts’ leave to unpaid administrative leave.”
The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners said in a letter to Roberts he was ineligible to hold a license because “you no longer possess legal presence in the United States,” the Associated Press reported.
The school board has also asked Roberts’ attorney to provide clarification surrounding his citizenship status by Tuesday afternoon.
It said Roberts filled out an I-9 form and stated he was a citizen and also provided two forms of verification: a driver’s license and a Social Security card.
Alfredo Parrish, an attorney in Des Moines, told CNN he spoke with Roberts — who was being held at a county jail in Sioux City, Iowa — by phone on Saturday morning.
“He sounded good. We had a good conversation,” said Parrish, whose firm is representing the superintendent. Parrish declined further comment, saying he needed “an opportunity to review all the documents” related to the case.
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