By Zoe Sottile, Priscilla Alvarez, CNN
(CNN) — The superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa was detained Friday morning by immigration agents, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which said the educator was in the country illegally and had existing weapon possession charges.
Superintendent Ian Roberts – an educator with decades of experience who previously competed as an Olympic athlete – was arrested as part of a “targeted enforcement operation” and fled after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers approached him, according to statements from DHS and the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
DHS said he was “in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife” at the time of his arrest. It’s a violation of federal law to own a firearm and ammunition if an individual doesn’t have legal status in the US.
CNN is working to identify Roberts’ attorney.
The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners issued Roberts a license to serve as superintendent in the state in July 2023, Jackie Norris, board president of Des Moines Public Schools, said in a news conference Friday.
“There is new information that has been made public that we did not know, and we have not been able to verify,” Norris said.
The school district earlier announced Roberts was detained by ICE in a message posted on social media, saying they had “no information” on why he was taken into custody or “the next potential steps.”
Another administrator, Matt Smith, has taken the role of interim superintendent in the meantime, according to the statement.
“Our priority is to provide a safe, secure and outstanding education for all students and to support our students, families, and employees,” the statement read.
Roberts entered the US on a student visa in 1999 and was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in May 2024, according to the DHS statement. He had existing weapon charges stemming from 2020, the agency added.
Public records show Roberts pleaded guilty to a weapon charge in 2022.
“This should be a wake-up call for our communities to the great work that our officers are doing every day to remove public safety threats,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations St. Paul Field Office Director Sam Olson said in a statement
ICE’s online detainee locator system shows Roberts was born in Guyana and is being held at a county jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Roberts was named Des Moines Public Schools superintendent in 2023, according to the district’s website. He was “born to immigrant parents from Guyana, and spent most of his formative years in Brooklyn, NY,” the website reads.
Before becoming an educator, the superintendent was an Olympic athlete and competed in track and field at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
Roberts’ long educational career has included positions in New York City; Baltimore, Washington, DC; St. Louis, Oakland, California; and Erie, Pennsylvania, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The Directors Council — a nonprofit group serving Des Moines’ Black community — identified Roberts as a board member and offered him their “full support” in a post on Facebook.
Roberts “has been a trusted partner, a dedicated advocate for equity, and an unwavering supporter of families and youth in Polk County,” reads the post. “His contributions to both The Directors Council and the wider community are immeasurable, and we stand with him during this uncertain moment.”