Des Moines, IA.— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released new details about the arrest of Ian Andre Roberts, the then-superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, describing him as a “criminal illegal alien” with a long criminal and immigration history, according to an ICE press release.
ICE officials said Roberts was approached during a targeted enforcement operation on September 26, 2025. He initially identified himself but then fled, abandoning his vehicle in a brushy area about 200 meters away. With assistance from the Iowa State Patrol, Roberts was located and arrested, according to an ICE statement.
Authorities reported that Roberts’s vehicle contained a loaded handgun, a fixed-blade hunting knife, and $3,000 in cash. On October 2, federal prosecutors charged him with being an illegal alien in possession of firearms, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa confirmed.
Roberts’s criminal history includes narcotics charges in New York in 1996, reckless driving and weapons charges in Maryland in 2012, and firearm convictions in Pennsylvania in 2022. His immigration record shows multiple visa entries, four denied green card applications, and a final order of removal issued in May 2024, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The Justice Department stated that Roberts allegedly possessed four firearms on the day of his arrest and remains in federal custody pending further proceedings, as detailed in a Justice Department announcement.
Following the arrest, the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners revoked Roberts’s administrative license, and the Des Moines school board placed him on unpaid leave. The district also filed a lawsuit against the executive search firm it hired, alleging negligent vetting of Roberts, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
The case has drawn national attention, with Senator Chuck Grassley pressing DHS for greater transparency on Roberts’s immigration status and how he was hired to oversee Iowa’s largest school district, Time Magazine reported.
Roberts, originally from Guyana, served as superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools from mid-2023 until resigning after his arrest
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