Des Moines Superintendent Resigns After ICE Arrest

Ian Roberts, superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, resigned Tuesday while fighting a federal deportation order after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him last week on a May 2024 final removal order. Roberts has been held at the Woodbury County Jail; his lead attorney, Alfredo Parrish, said Roberts believed a prior lawyer had resolved his case and that the legal team has filed a request for a stay of removal and a motion to reopen the immigration proceedings. The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners revoked his administrator license on grounds he lacks legal presence, and the Des Moines school board had placed him on unpaid leave and given him a deadline to prove his eligibility to work before he resigned. ICE alleges Roberts tried to flee a traffic stop and possessed a loaded firearm, a hunting knife and cash, and local officials and lawmakers have sought and released portions of his immigration records as supporters plan protests and walkouts.