To those who know him, Superintendent Ian Roberts is an “integral part” of the school community and a former principal of the year. But to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), he is a “criminal alien” and a threat to public safety.
Those competing descriptions of Roberts, 54, emerged following his dramatic arrest by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency on Friday morning, in a case that has stunned the Des Moines, Iowa, community in which he has worked for years.
Roberts, an educator with decades of experience who became Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools in 2023, was detained by ICE in a “targeted enforcement operation” last week.
Read more: Even With Tons of Money, ICE Finds Obstacles in Hiring 10,000 New Agents
Immigration officials say Roberts is a citizen of Guyana whose work permit expired in 2020. A statement by ICE said an immigration judge gave him a final order of removal in May 2024.
Authorities acted upon that removal order on Friday morning. ICE said Roberts sped away in his vehicle when officers approached him, abandoning his vehicle near a wooded area. He was later arrested with a loaded handgun, ICE said, a violation of federal law for those in the U.S. without legal status.
Protests and confusion
Roberts’s arrest has roiled the Des Moines community, where he had responsibility for some 30,000 students and had worked for years.
The detention comes amid a deepening immigration crackdown across the country by the Trump Administration, as it aims to meet its target of carrying out the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S. history.
President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to target “the worst of the worst” in his deportation efforts, but the government’s own data shows that around 70% of people detained by ICE have no criminal record. According to recent polling, approval of Trump’s handling of immigration has dropped from around 50% in March to 43% this month.
Hundreds of protesters…
