Illegal Alien Scored Six-Figure Salary as Des Moines School Superintendent

Des Moines, Iowa, Public Schools Superintendent Ian Andre Roberts, who has been placed on unpaid leave after he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), scored a six-figure salary while heading the district’s public schools.

As Breitbart News reported, ICE agents arrested Roberts last week as he had a final deportation order from a federal immigration judge that was issued in May 2024. When Roberts was arrested, agents found $3,000 in cash in his government-issued vehicle along with a fixed-blade hunting knife and a loaded handgun.

The New York Times reported that Roberts, as Des Moines Public Schools superintendent since July 2023, had been earning a base salary of about $286,000 after he filed employment eligibility forms claiming to be an American citizen, providing a Social Security Number and a driver’s license.

Des Moines Public School Board Chair Jackie Norris, a Democrat running for Iowa’s open Senate seat, said in a statement that “two things can be true at the same time — Dr. Roberts was an effective and well-respected leader, and there are serious questions related to his citizenship and ability to legally perform his duties as superintendent.”

Roberts was appointed school superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools in July 2023 by the school board after “an extensive nationwide search based on a leadership profile developed with input from the school board, teachers, families, and others in the school community,” the school district’s website states.

Part of the reason the school board appointed Roberts to the position, the website states, is his being “passionate about instructional excellence, diversity, equity, inclusion, and innovation in education.”

According to ICE, Roberts first entered the U.S. from Guyana in 1999 on a student visa. Though his immigration status from that date to last year is still unknown, he was ordered deported more than a year ago, but failed to depart the U.S. and stayed on as school superintendent.

Roberts also held jobs in Maryland, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC, even as his employment eligibility remains in question.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.