ICE arrests Des Moines Public Schools superintendent on visa overstay and firearms charges
Immigration officials say Ian Andre Roberts overstayed a student visa, possessed a handgun and a fixed-blade knife, and fled police; district leaders say the facts are not yet clear.
Des Moines, Iowa — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Ian Andre Roberts, the superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, on a fugitive warrant Friday, alleging he overstayed his student visa and faces a firearms offense. Records show he is a citizen of Guyana and that his permit to work in the United States expired in 2020.
According to ICE, Roberts was found in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife. The agency said he initially fled from police in a vehicle provided to him by the school district. Officers later located him with the help of Iowa State Patrol and he is jailed at an immigration detention center near Des Moines. The handgun investigation is being turned over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ICE said, noting that it is illegal for undocumented immigrants to possess firearms.
Roberts originally entered the United States on a student visa in 1999. A federal judge ordered him deported in 2024. The district’s firearms case is separate from the immigration matter, with ICE outlining that the handgun investigation will proceed with federal authorities.
The Des Moines Public Schools district, which serves about 30,000 students, said it has not been briefed on all the circumstances surrounding the arrest. School Board Chair Jackie Norris told reporters that the board is still trying to determine the facts, adding, “We do not have all the facts. There is much we do not know.” She emphasized that Roberts has been “an integral part of our school community since he joined two years ago.”
Roberts’ background includes a long career in education across several states and advanced degrees from Georgetown University and Harvard University, according to NBC News. He also competed for Guyana in track and field at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and participated in World Championships in Japan and Spain. In Des Moines’ district biography, it notes that he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana and spent much of his formative years in Brooklyn, New York, and that he enjoys hunting.
Officials described the arrest as a reminder of the ongoing national emphasis on immigration enforcement. Des Moines ICE Director Sam Olson said the case should serve as a wake-up call to communities about the work done by officers “to remove public safety threats.” He added that questions about how Roberts was hired without work authorization, a final order of removal, and a prior weapons charge require careful review, and he urged parents to consider the broader implications for school safety and governance.