Des Moines school leader detained by ICE, district says

DES MOINES, Iowa — Federal immigration agents detained Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts Friday morning, the school board said. Board president Jackie Norris said in a statement that there is no confirmed information as to why Roberts is being detained or the next potential steps. A spokesperson for the district said they do not have additional information to share at this time.

The district provided the update through Norris, who added that the school board is withholding further comment until more is known. The district did not immediately provide additional details about Roberts' whereabouts or the status of his duties, and there was no public timetable for an official update from federal authorities.

ICE records show Roberts in custody at a county jail in western Iowa. But a Pottawattamie County jail employee said he is not currently at their jail. The jail in Council Bluffs is about 130 miles west of Des Moines.

An employee at the ICE office in St. Paul, Minnesota, which oversees operations in Iowa, said he had no information on Roberts’ arrest. An email to ICE’s national media line wasn’t immediately returned, and its phone rang unanswered. Additional calls to other regional offices in Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri, also went unanswered.

As of Friday afternoon, there was no further update from the school district and no official confirmation from federal authorities.