Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — The state education department plans to review hiring procedures in the Des Moines School District after the district’s superintendent was arrested Friday morning and faces deportation.
The US Department of Homeland Security says 54-year-old Ian Roberts is a native of Guyana who was living illegally in the US, and a judge issued a deportation order in May of last year. State officials say Roberts checked the box that said he was a U.S. citizen when he applied for a state license to serve as superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district. The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners conducted a criminal history check, and state officials say no deviations were identified; and it was up to the school district to check Roberts’ immigration status. The Des Moines district says Roberts completed an employment verification form and submitted the required documentation when he was hired. Board president Jackie Norris says the district hired a private firm to conduct a background check on Roberts.
The school board met on Saturday and voted to place Roberts on paid administrative leave.
Roberts is being held in the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City. A few dozen protesters gathered outside the jail on Saturday.
Jeanette Hopkins is a retired teacher from Sioux City.
Hundreds protested outside the Federal Building in Des Moines late Friday, and a crowd gathered in a Des Moines church as a show of support for Roberts. Betty Andrews, president of the Iowa/Nebraska chapter of the NAACP, says Roberts deserves justice.
Governor Kim Reynolds released a written statement Saturday, calling Roberts’ arrest shocking — particularly his attempt to flee from arresting officers and the loaded gun, knife, and cash found in his Des Moines Public Schools vehicle. Reynolds says those who believe immigration laws are optional are dangerously wrong and the law must be enforced every time. State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat who’s running for governor, says laws matter and facts matter, and Sand says he’s alarmed that government figures from both parties have lept to conclusions when a lot is still unclear in this case.
