ICE arrests superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district
According to the Ministry of Interior Security, who says that the educator is illegal in the country and has charges of possession of existing weapons, des Moines Public Schools, the largest school region in Iowa, were detained by immigrant agents on Friday morning.
Inspector Ian Roberts, an educator who had previously competed as an Olympic athlete, was arrested as part of the DHS and Iowa Ministry of Public Security, and the US immigration and customs executive officers fled after the US migration and customs executive officers approached him.
DHS said that at the time of being arrested, he had a loaded pistol, a $ 3,000 cash and a fixed knife hunting knife ”. If an individual does not have legal status in the USA, it is a violation of the federal law to have firearms and ammunition.
CNN is working to describe Roberts’ lawyer.
The school area and DHS presented Roberts’ solid portraits. DHS described him as a “guilty stranger ve and claimed that he was a threat of public security. However, at a press conference after his arrest, DES Moines Chairman Jackie Norris said the inspector was “an inseparable part of our school community çıkan that emerged in big and small ways for students and staff.
The arrest created a protest outside the federal courthouse in des Moines. Read a sign that is carried by a demonstrator, according to the shooting of CNN Affiliate Kccı.
According to Norris, the IOWA Training Auditors Board gave Roberts a license to serve as an inspector in the state in July 2023.
Norris said, “There are new information that we do not know and we could not verify.”
According to the region’s website, Roberts has supervised more than 30,000 students in the des Moines public school system and previously worked in public schools throughout the country.
Matt Smith, another manager, took the role of intermediate inspector, meanwhile, Message published on social media To the district before.
“Our priority is to provide a safe, safe and distinguished education for all students and to support our students, families and employees,” he read.
The arrest of Roberts comes in the midst of the constant pressure of the Trump administration on immigration. Raid on workplaces And Arrest of community columns Including firefighters, a journalist and priest.
DHS was ordered in 2024 to the inspector.
According to the DHS, Roberts entered a student visa in 1999 in 1999 and a final lifting was ordered by an immigration judge in May 2024. The agency added that it has existing weapons accusations from 2020.
Des Moines said that the public schools were not aware of the removal order, but that Roberts informed the school administrative board for a fiery weapon crime related to a hunting rifle during the recruitment process. The region said in a statement that Roberts said, “The situation provides adequate context and explanation to advance in the recruitment process”.
Public records show that Roberts was guilty of weapon charges in Pennsylvania in 2022. CNN could not confirm whether Roberts had a accusation separately from 2020.
The region also said that Roberts offers an employment conformity verification form and an I-9 as part of the recruitment process.
Regional spokesman Phil Roeder said, “The region was not officially informed by ICE and we could not talk to Dr. Roberts since I was detained,” he said.
Ice application and lifting operations Paul Field Office Director Sam Olson said that Robertson’s arrest should be ör from our officers’ call to awaken to great work to eliminate public security threats for our communities ”.
ICE’s online arrest finder system shows that Roberts was born in Guyana and was held in a district prison in Iowa Council Bluffs.
According to the region’s website, Roberts was elected as the Responsible of DES MOines Public Schools in 2023. “He was born by migratory parents from Guyana and spent most of his shaping years in Brooklyn, NY,” he says.
Before becoming an educator, an inspector was an Olympic athlete and athletics competed in 2000 Olympic games in Sydney, Australia.
Roberts’s long education career included positions in New York; Baltimore; Washington, DC; St. Louis; Oakland, California; and Eriie, Pennsylvania, according to LinkedIn profile.
Among the crowds protesting Roberts’ arrest on Friday, there was Mary Pat Lamair, a regional teacher who said he was excited to see the exhibition of support.
“I think it is really important to look at each other, and we seem at a point where there is no one,” Laman said. “It is important that people know that the general people are not good with what is.” He added.
Directors Council – A non -profit organization The Group, which served the des Moines’ Black Community, described Roberts as a member of the board of directors and presented her “full support” A Post on Facebook.
Roberts is a reliable partner, a special advocate for Özkaynak and is an invariant supporter of families and young people in Polk district, Rob says Roberts. “His contributions to both the Directors Council and the wider community cannot be measured and we are standing with him for this uncertain moment.”
In a video statement published on Facebook pages, organizers of the Iowa Immigration Justice Movement, the inspector’s detention is shocking and scary for immigrant communities, he said.
Elizabeth Balcarcel, in a video statement, “If they go to take the children of our families at the moment, send them to school, migrant agents are afraid to get their children out of school,” he said. “There are many questions, there are many doubts.”
Des Moines School Board planned a special closed session meeting on Saturday to arrest and discuss the status of Roberts with the region.
Catherine Shoichet from CNN contributed to this report.
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