Last week, school officials in Des Moines were celebrating improved marks on a state evaluation. The superintendent, Ian Roberts, who in two years on the job had already become a well-known figure in Iowa, said the report showed “that we have the foundation of an outstanding school district that will continue to grow and improve.”
Days later, the Des Moines Public Schools system was in disarray.
Dr. Roberts was in the custody of federal immigration officials, who asserted that he had been leading the school system while in the United States illegally. District officials were struggling to answer questions about their vetting process for hiring Dr. Roberts and straining to square the description of Dr. Roberts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials with the man they knew. On Saturday, School Board members voted 7 to 0 to place Dr. Roberts on paid administrative leave during a meeting that lasted less than three minutes.
“I want to be clear, no one here was aware of any citizenship or immigration issues that Dr. Roberts may have been facing,” said Jackie Norris, the School Board chair, in a statement that she said she was reading on behalf of the Board. “The accusations ICE has made against Dr. Roberts are very serious, and we are taking them very seriously.”
Ms. Norris, who is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, said Dr. Roberts had said he was a U.S. citizen on an Iowa application for a superintendent license. Board members declined to take questions from reporters.
The abrupt turn from optimism to chaos in the Des Moines school system started on Friday morning as word spread of a law enforcement search on the city’s south side. The police radio crackled with word that ICE agents were seeking a man in a gray suit and pink shirt who had fled officers near a trailer park. Hours later, ICE would say they had arrested Dr. Roberts, who was born in Guyana. ICE officials said Dr. Roberts had a deportation order, no authorization to work in the United States, and had faced weapon possession charges several years ago.
It would have been a shocking turn of events during any period. But the timing of Dr. Roberts’s detention, in the midst of President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, contributed to heightened suspicions and tensions, with some residents protesting the superintendent’s detention and some politicians describing it as proof of a lawless immigration system.
“He should have never been anywhere around Iowa kids in the first place!” Representative Ashley Hinson, an Iowa Republican, posted on social media. She said Dr. Roberts “should be deported immediately.”
Dr. Roberts remained in custody at an Iowa jail on Saturday. Alfredo Parrish, a lawyer representing Dr. Roberts, said in a brief phone interview that he was in agreement with the district’s decision to place the superintendent on leave with pay.
“We are still trying to get the facts accurate,” Mr. Parrish said.
Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, said that “those who believe immigration laws are optional are dangerously wrong.”
In Des Moines, a left-leaning city in a state led by Republicans, residents expressed a mix of views, as well as confusion about the situation.
Some wondered whether their school district, Iowa’s largest with more than 30,000 students, had missed red flags when it hired Dr. Roberts. They also voiced concern about ICE’s accusations, including that Dr. Roberts had been in possession of a loaded gun and a knife when agents confronted him; some, too, said they had doubts about whether they could fully trust those claims. There were also fond memories of an upbeat, engaging administrator who, parents said, had built deep bonds in his short tenure.
“It’s just shocking and confusing and makes me grieve for what was and never will be again,” said Elizabeth Talbert, a parent, who recalled how students once cheered when Dr. Roberts made an appearance at a basketball game. “No matter how this turns out, this is scarring, and it’s going to be divisive.”
ICE officials said Dr. Roberts, who had once competed in track and field at the Olympics for Guyana, entered the United States in 1999 on a student visa and had received a deportation order from an immigration judge in May 2024.
Court documents corroborated some of ICE’s description. Pennsylvania records from 2021 and 2022 showed that Dr. Roberts pleaded guilty after being charged with having a loaded firearm inside a vehicle.
That incident, which took place during Dr. Roberts’s stint leading the Millcreek Township School District, became a local news story. Dr. Roberts said at the time that a state game warden had cited him while he was hunting in a wooded area. He said he was a licensed gun owner and had placed the weapon in his vehicle while speaking to the officer in an effort to make the warden feel safe.
Still unanswered was how, if ICE’s other assertions were proven, Dr. Roberts had managed to move from school system to school system over the years, often in leadership roles, without authorization to work in the country. He had built an increasingly notable profile nationally as a school administrator, book author and recipient of advanced degrees.
Under his leadership, the Des Moines school district advanced racial equity efforts that were criticized by some conservatives. This fall, Dr. Roberts was asking voters to approve more funding for the school district. Chris Coleman, a City Council member, described him as a constant presence at Des Moines schools, businesses and government events.
“He was everywhere,” Mr. Coleman said. “He showed a caring spirit. He was he was very attentive and personable. He was a master at remembering names and making connections. I think that’s why the community is so distressed over the situation.”
In a statement, Sam Olson, an ICE field office director, described the employment of Dr. Roberts as “beyond comprehension,” given a judge’s order for his removal and a lack of work authorization. He described it as a situation that “should alarm the parents of that school district.”
Des Moines Public Schools officials said Dr. Roberts, whose base salary is about $286,000, had filled out forms at the time of his hiring that were intended to prove that he was allowed to work in the United States. The district noted that an outside consulting firm had been involved in the search that led to Dr. Roberts’s hiring, and that a background check firm had looked into Dr. Roberts’s past as part of the hiring process.
Officials at the consulting firm did not respond to questions, and the president of the background check firm said that immigration-related issues were outside the purview of their review. Des Moines district officials said they had been aware of the Pennsylvania gun case before Dr. Roberts was hired.
Dana Goldstein and Ernesto Londoño contributed reporting.
Mitch Smith is a Chicago-based national correspondent for The Times, covering the Midwest and Great Plains.
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