A former Olympian serving as the superintendent of public schools in Des Moines, Iowa, was detained by ICE on Friday, his district and ICE announced in separate statements.
ICE has accused the capital city’s lead educator, Ian Roberts, of fleeing ICE agents when confronted Friday morning.
GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson, of Iowa, claimed on X that Roberts is an “an illegal alien from Guyana and active ICE fugitive with a deportation order since May 2024.”
Hinson further alleged that “agents found a loaded gun, a hunting knife, and $3,000 in cash” when ICE agents “caught” him. ICE later repeated those allegations in a statement emailed to the Daily Beast.
“During a targeted enforcement operation on Sept. 26, 2025, officers approached Roberts in his vehicle after identifying himself, but he sped away,” ICE wrote in a statement. “Officers later discovered his vehicle abandoned near a wooded area.”
ICE stated that state troopers assisted in locating Roberts and took him into custody.
An online database lists Roberts as in custody at a jail more than 100 miles from his office, but the facility told ABC News that he is not actually there. ICE’s database lists his country of birth as Guyana.
ICE stated in a news release that Hinson entered the U.S. on a student visa granted to him in 1999. His school district said in a news release, “We have no confirmed information as to why Dr. Roberts is being detained or the next potential steps.”
The Daily Beast was unable to find any criminal record for Roberts in Iowa or elsewhere, but ICE claimed in its statement that he had a “prior weapons charge.”
“This suspect was arrested in possession of a loaded weapon in a vehicle provided by Des Moines Public Schools after fleeing federal law enforcement,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations St. Paul Field Office Director Sam Olson said in a statement. “How this illegal alien was hired without work authorization, a final order of removal, and a prior weapons charge is beyond comprehension and should alarm the parents of that school district.”
A LinkedIn page for Roberts states that he has led the school district since July 2023, having previously worked as a teacher in New York and Maryland.
Roberts also represented Guyana in the Olympics as a track and field athlete at the 2000 Sydney Games, where he competed in the 800-meter race. At the same time, he was a member of the track and field team at Coppin State University in Baltimore.
Democrats in Iowa have raged at the arrest and lack of immediate answers.
“This is not only unacceptable, it is an outright disgrace,” said Iowa Rep. Larry McBurney, who represents Des Moines. “Our schools should never be treated as political battlegrounds for federal overreach… I am appalled. The idea of ICE raiding our schools and removing a highly respected leader from our community is a stain on Iowa and on America. It undermines trust, threatens stability, and sends a chilling message to educators and families across the state.”
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