09/27/2025
Justice & Journalism with Judge Mike Carter
⚠️FORMER ST. LOUIS SUPERINTENDENT ARRESTED BY ICE ⚠️
Sept.26-An Iowa school district superintendent living in the United States illegally faces weapon charges was arrested today, Homeland Security authorities said.
Dr. Ian Andre Roberts, who heads the Des Moines Public Schools-the largest school district in the state-was taken into custody on a fugitive warrant. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents pursued Roberts after he sped away, authorities said.
On a targeted enforcement operation, officers approached Roberts in a vehicle, but he sped away. They later found his vehicle abandoned, and an Iowa State Patrol K-9 was called in to help search for him.
"After a search of the area, the subject was located in the brush approximately 200 yards south of where the vehicle was abandoned, " an ICE statement said.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, officials found $3000 in cash, a fixed-blade knife, and a loaded G***k 19 in the vehicle owned by the school district.
"The suspect was arrested in possession of a loaded weapon in a vehicle provided by Des Moines Public Schools after fleeing federal law enforcement," said ICE Enforcement Removal Operations St. Paul Field Office Director Sam Olson. "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. 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.
Roberts entered the U.S. legally from Guyana, authorities said. He last entered the country through New York on August 30, 1999, on an F-1 student visa to attend St. John's University in Queens. Roberts was a perpetual college student in the years he has been in the United States.
Roberts was not legally authorized to work in the U.S. after his employment authorization card expired in 2020, authorities said.
"Subject was encountered by Port Authority PD and arrested for weapons possession charges, which are still pending," ICE said of existing weapon possession charges from Feb. 5, 2020.
On May 22, 2024, a judge ordered that he be deported. The proceedings were held in absentia. On April 24, 2025, an immigration judge in Dallas denied a motion to reopen the case.
Roberts was hired to serve as superintendent for Des Moines Public Schools on July 1, 2023, following a nationwide search for qualified candidates. A statement announcing his hiring said he was "chosen through a comprehensive national search based on the leadership profile prepared by the Board after receiving input from staff, parents, students, and community members.
"Dr. Roberts proudly shares that he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana, and spent most of his formative years in Brooklyn, N.Y., the DMPS news release stated at the time.
Roberts worked in education in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and St. Louis Prior to coming to Des Moines, Roberts worked in St. Louis at the St. Louis Public Schools where he served as a high school network superintendent.
Before a career in education, Roberts competed in the 2000 Sydney-Games in track and field for Guyana as a middle-distance runner, the Des Moines Register reported.
Roberts also served on the board of the Directors Council, a local group comprised of several nonprofits focused on Des Moines Black community.
The investigation into how Roberts acquired the handgun is being turned over to the ATF. It is a violation of federal law for those in the U.S. without legal status to possess a firearm and ammunition. ICE.
Sources: .com
