Former Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts has been transferred to federal custody with the Department of Justice.
After Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Roberts last week, alleging he was living and working in the United States illegally, Roberts was being held at the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office jail in Sioux City, Iowa.
“As of Thursday October 2, 2025, Ian Roberts is no longer in the custody of the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office jail. Mr. Roberts was taken into custody by the United States Department of Justice on a Federal warrant for his arrest,” Woodbury County Sheriff Chad Sheehan said in a statement.
The DOJ did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on where Roberts is now being held.
ICE said Roberts also had a loaded handgun and hunting knife when the agency officers made the arrest on Sept. 26.
“ICE Des Moines today arrested Ian Andre Roberts, a criminal illegal alien from Guyana, in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash, and a fixed blade hunting knife,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement on Friday. “At the time of his arrest, Roberts was working as the Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools despite being an illegal alien with a final order of removal and no work authorization.”
Roberts, who resigned from his position as superintendent on Tuesday, is attempting to delay his deportation to his home country of Guyana.
After Roberts’s September arrest, the DOJ initiated a Title VII investigation into his former school district. The investigation will examine Des Moines Public Schools’ diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
