The superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools system was detained on Friday by federal immigration authorities, who say he had been living and working in the United States without authorization.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said that the superintendent, Ian Roberts, had received a deportation order from an immigration judge in May 2024. He entered the United States in 1999 on a student visa, ICE officials said, and had no work authorization. Dr. Roberts, who was born in Guyana, had faced weapon possession charges from 2020, the officials said, though they did not provide details.
In a statement, Jackie Norris, the board president of the Des Moines Public Schools, said that she did not know why federal agents had detained the superintendent, who has led the district since 2023.
ICE agents approached Dr. Roberts while he was in his vehicle on Friday morning, and he sped off, according to a statement issued by ICE. He was later found, and his vehicle was found abandoned near a wooded area, the statement said. The agency said that he had a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a hunting knife when he was detained.
Matt Smith, an associate superintendent, was appointed to lead the school system temporarily.
“We have no confirmed information as to why Dr. Roberts is being detained or the next potential steps,” Ms. Norris wrote in a statement posted on the school board’s Facebook page on Friday afternoon.
Dr. Roberts has led the school district since July 2023, according to his LinkedIn page. He previously worked as a teacher in New York and Maryland and had been a track and field Olympic athlete.
A statement announcing his appointment as superintendent in 2023 said Dr. Roberts was “born to immigrant parents from Guyana and spent most of his formative years in Brooklyn.”
The ICE detainee locator website showed that Dr. Roberts was being held at the Pottawattamie County Jail, in western Iowa. That page lists his country of birth as Guyana.
Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy.
Hamed Aleaziz covers the Department of Homeland Security and immigration policy for The Times.
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