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Immigration agents have arrested the superintendent of Des Moines public schools.
Ian Roberts, the first Black superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district and a former Olympic track athlete who competed for Guyana in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was “detained by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents this morning,” the school district said in a statement.
“We have no confirmed information as to why Dr. Roberts is being detained or the next potential steps,” the district added while naming an interim superintendent.
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At a press conference, Jackie Norris, chair of the Des Moines school board, said the district “did not have all the facts,” but called Roberts “an integral part of our school community since he joined over two years ago.”
Roberts joined the district in 2023 and “has held educational leadership positions in districts across the U.S. for 20 years,” Norris said.
The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners issued Roberts a license to serve as a superintendent in Iowa in 2023, Norris added, before referring to “new information that has been made public that we did not know, and we have not been able to verify, as to whether that information is accurate.” Officials did not take questions at the press conference.
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ICE confirmed Roberts’ arrest in a press release and said he came to the United States on a student visa in 1999 and was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge last year. The agency alleged Roberts was working as a superintendent without work authorization.
The release further alleged: “During a targeted enforcement operation on Sept. 26, 2025, officers approached Roberts in his vehicle after identifying himself, but he sped away. Officers later discovered his vehicle abandoned near a wooded area. State Patrol assisted in locating the subject and he was taken into ICE custody.”
“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’s Enforcement and Removal Operations St. Paul Field Office Director Sam Olson is quoted as saying. ICE also alleged Roberts had $3,000 in cash and a fixed-blade hunting knife when he was arrested.
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After an unrelated incident in 2022, Roberts said he was a licensed hunter and gun owner, The Associated Press reported.
“The investigation into how Roberts acquired the handgun is being turned over to the ATF,” ICE’s release said. “It is a violation of federal law for those in the U.S. without legal status to possess a firearm and ammunition.”
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It wasn’t immediately clear whether Roberts has legal representation.
As of Friday afternoon, ICE’s online detainee locator listed Roberts as being held at Pottawattamie County Jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The listing shows Roberts’ country of birth as Guyana.