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42m ago

ICE Detains Des Moines Schools Superintendent, Citing Deportation Order and Loaded Handgun

The district has named an interim leader pending verified details on the superintendent’s custody status.

Dr Ian Roberts (1)
Ian Roberts speaks with the media after being named the new DMPS superintendent during a Des Moines Public Schools board meeting at Central Campus on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Des Moines.
Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts speaks during the Standing Up For Public Education Rally at Goodrell Middle School in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., May 1, 2025. Lily Smith/The Register/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images via REUTERS/File photo
Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Ian Roberts, speaks with students during lunch at North High School, in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., May 1, 2024. Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register/USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS/File photo

Overview

  • Homeland Security says Ian Roberts was taken into custody during a targeted operation and allegedly fled before agents recovered a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash, and a fixed-blade knife.
  • DHS and ICE state Roberts is in the U.S. without authorization under a final removal order issued by an immigration judge in May 2024 and that he originally entered on a student visa in 1999.
  • Des Moines Public Schools confirmed the detention and installed Associate Superintendent Matt Smith as interim, saying it lacks confirmed information about next steps.
  • ICE says it is a federal violation for someone without legal status to possess a firearm, and the ATF will investigate how the handgun was obtained.
  • Custody details remain unclear after ICE’s detainee locator briefly listed Roberts at Pottawattamie County Jail before the entry changed, and officials also note a prior weapons charge from February 2020.