Des Moines, Iowa (AP) – Officials have placed leaders in Iowa’s largest school district On administrative leave Saturday the day after federal immigration agents arrested him as they told him illegally in the country.
The Des Moines school board unanimously voted to place Principal Ian Roberts on paid leave during a three-minute special meeting. The board said Roberts will not be able to perform duties in the 30,000 student district, and after more information, authorities will reevaluate his position.
After the meeting, School Board President Jackie Norris read a statement saying that while the words of Roberts’ arrest on Friday created a “dark day,” board members still didn’t have all the facts.
We Immigration and customs enforcement Agents said he was illegally in the country, had no permission to work, and was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024, which led to him being detained. Ice Agent stopped Roberts while driving a school-issued vehicle.
He was detained at the Woodbury County Jail in the city of Sioux, northwest Iowa, about 150 miles from Des Moines.
“I want to be clear. No one here knew of the citizenship or immigration issues that Dr. Roberts might have been facing,” Norris said. “The accusations that Ice made against Dr. Roberts are very serious and we take them very seriously.”
Norris said Roberts holds a law firm in Des Moines to represent him. Attorney Alfredo Parish confirmed that his company represents Roberts, but declined to comment on his case.
Norris also reiterated that he had done a background check for Roberts before the district was hired. The company that helped search the inspector in 2023 hired another company to carry out “comprehensive crime, credit and background checks” in Roberts, which does not show any citizenship issues, Norris said.
Also on Saturday, the Iowa Department of Education issued a statement saying that Roberts was a US citizen when he applied for an administrator license. The department said the Iowa Education Review Board conducted criminal history checks with state and federal authorities before issuing the license.
The department said it is considering employment procedures for the Des Moines area to ensure that they are permitted to work in the US.
Roberts previously said he was born from Guyana to immigrant parents and spent much of his childhood in Brooklyn, New York. He competed in the 2000 Olympics in Guyana’s track and field.
Ice said he entered the US on a student visa in 1999.
A former Guyana police officer on Saturday remembered as a mid-range runner who could have risen through police ranks in South America if Roberts had not moved to the US decades ago. Retired Guyana Police Chief Paul Slow said Roberts entered the police after graduating from the country’s standard military officer course.
“He served for several years before leaving. He didn’t get fired or stepped down in disgrace. He just moved forward,” Slow told The Associated Press. “He was a good, promising and disciplined man.”
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Associated Press writer Bert Wilkinson in Georgetown, Guyana contributed to the report.
