The superintendent of Des Moines Public Colleges was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers on Friday, in accordance with the college district.
ICE mentioned Ian Roberts was within the nation illegally from Guyana and was working as a superintendent regardless of having “a remaining order of removing and no work authorization.”
When officers conducting a “focused enforcement operation” tried to strategy Roberts in his automobile on Friday, the superintendent sped away, and the officers later discovered his automobile deserted, ICE mentioned.
Des Moines College District superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts waves to the gang as passing by way of Grand Avenue throughout the Iowa State Truthful Parade, Aug.t 9, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa.
Nirmalendu Majumdar/The Des Moines Register/USA TODAY NETWORK
Police helped discover Roberts, and when he was taken into custody, the superintendent was in possession of a loaded handgun, a fixed-blade searching knife and $3,000 in money, ICE mentioned.
Roberts got here to the U.S. on a pupil visa in 1999 and a decide gave him a “remaining order of removing” in Might 2024, ICE mentioned in an announcement. Roberts has weapon possession fees from February 2020, the company mentioned.
College district officers mentioned in an announcement they did not have data on “subsequent potential steps” for Roberts.
Roberts joined the Des Moines district in July 2023 and “held instructional management positions in districts throughout the U.S. for 20 years,” faculty board chair Jackie Norris mentioned at a information convention Friday.
“There may be new data that has been made public that we didn’t know, and haven’t been capable of confirm as as to if that data is correct,” she mentioned.
“There may be a lot we have no idea,” she mentioned. “Nonetheless, what we do know is that Dr. Roberts has been an integral a part of our faculty neighborhood since he joined over two years in the past. Throughout his time with our district, he has proven up in methods massive and small, and has advocated for college kids and workers and begun introducing ideas that may assist us reimagine schooling for future generations of Des Moines college students.”
