It’s one of the crazier stories to hit the news of late, but then again, it is entirely believable given the policy position of Democrat lawmakers when it comes to illegal immigration.
Last week, Ian Andre Roberts was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Roberts was no ordinary suspect, however. He had been working as the superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools at the time of his arrest, a tenured position he had been hired for back in 2023.
It turns out that Roberts was an illegal alien and had been one since his student visa, on which he had entered the U.S. from his home country of Guyana, had expired — in 1999.
At the time of Roberts’s arrest, he attempted to evade ICE officers and was found hiding in the woods not far from his vehicle, in which was found $3,000 and a loaded handgun. It is against the law for any illegal alien to possess a firearm.
Since Roberts’s arrest, Iowa has revoked his teaching license, and the school board placed him on unpaid leave. He is resigning today. Roberts reportedly defied a deportation order last year, which prompted ICE to track him down.
Of course, the big question on everyone’s mind is how an illegal alien not only gained employment as a teacher but also secured a position as superintendent in Iowa’s largest school district.
Veteran political analyst Byron York writes, “How was the Des Moines school board so fooled by superintendent Ian Roberts, now in ICE custody? It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that they just believed what they wanted to believe.”
According to the school board chair, Jackie Norris, Roberts claimed to be a citizen. He filled out a Homeland Security I-9 form, presented a valid driver’s license, and provided a Social Security card. From there, the school district effectively took Roberts’s word and didn’t bother to confirm his legal status with E-Verify. Norris noted, “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.”
As Rosemary Jenks, policy director at the Immigration Accountability Project, observes, “Every school district in the United States should be using E-Verify, if simply to protect the children they are responsible for.” At the federal level, E-Verify is mandated, but not all states require it. That includes Iowa, as a mandatory E-Verify bill failed to pass the Republican-controlled legislature.
This episode is remarkable in its exposure of failure, but Iowa isn’t the worst or only problem. Roberts’s legal status deception is tied to other states, including Maryland, Missouri, and California — all places where he worked in school districts.
The attitude of many Democrat-run states that have adopted “sanctuary” policies is the notion that no one is “illegal.” Based upon this flawed concept, they have gone out of their way to avoid expressing the distinction between legal and illegal residents. This, of course, only invites lawlessness and situations like this.
The Department of Homeland Security observed that not only had Roberts sought to evade deportation and arrest for years, but there was a 2020 weapons possession charge on his record. “This should be a wake-up call for our communities to the great work that our officers are doing every day to remove public safety threats,” stated Sam Olson, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations director for St. Paul. It has also come to light that Roberts has an active voter registration as a Democrat in Maryland. This is precisely why efforts to ensure voter integrity are so important.
This entire episode highlights the numerous problems that arise from the authorities’ failure to uphold and enforce the law. With Democrats objecting to ICE operations across the country, one can only conclude that they support this lawlessness.
