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The Iowa school superintendent arrested by federal immigration authorities last week will step down from his role as leader of the state’s largest school district, his attorneys said Tuesday.
Ian Roberts will resign his position in a letter addressed to the Des Moines Public Schools board, his attorneys told reporters during a news conference. A motion to reopen his immigration case will be filed Tuesday, according to his legal team.
“We will today be sending a letter to the school board, authorized by Dr. Roberts to resign his position as superintendent,” Roberts’ attorney, Alfredo Parrish, told reporters during a news conference. “As we go through this process, step by step, we are going to be working on leaving no stone unturned. That’s our No. 1 priority as his attorneys.”
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Roberts, 54, was hired by the Des Moines district, which has more than 30,000 students and nearly 5,000 employees, in July 2023. He was detained last week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following a brief car chase. He was taken into custody because he had “a final order of removal and no work authorization,” authorities said at the time.
He entered the United States illegally from Guyana, authorities said. He last entered the country through New York on Aug. 30, 1999, on an F-1 student visa to attend St. John’s University in New York City.
Roberts was not legally authorized to work in the U.S. after his employment authorization card expired in 2020, authorities said.
Homeland Security officials said that Roberts faced weapon possession charges from Feb. 5, 2020, and was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in May 2024. After his arrest, authorities said they found a loaded handgun in his vehicle.
Parrish said Roberts had a previous lawyer in Texas who told him his immigration case had been “closed successfully.”
“It has been my pleasure to represent you throughout this process, and I am pleased to report that your case has reached a successful resolution,” a letter to Roberts from that attorney states.
The Des Moines school board on Monday voted to put Roberts on unpaid leave. On Sunday, the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners revoked Roberts’ educational license, according to its website.
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The school board will meet Tuesday night to consider termination of Roberts’ contract or resignation, Phil Roeder, the district director of communications and public affairs, told Fox News Digital.
“A resignation for someone under contract does not take effect until the board gives its approval,” he said in a statement.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division also announced on Tuesday that it has launched a probe into DMPS over its hiring practices to determine whether the district discriminates against job candidates based on their color, race or national origin.
“DEI initiatives and race-based hiring preferences in our schools violate federal anti-discrimination laws and undermine educational priorities,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. “School districts must cease these unlawful programs and restore merit-based employment practices for the benefit of both students and employees.”
The DOJ cited the DMPS website, which states that the district requires its teaching and learning staff to match the student population in terms of “demographics and cultural responsivity.”
“DMPS also set specific quotas for ‘increas[ing] the number of teachers of color’ in an affirmative action plan, the DOJ said. “Its staff retention strategy prioritizes ‘lift[ing] up voices of our People of Color’ and ‘creat[ing] a safer environment for People of Color.’
DMPS also operates the “3D Coalition” project, a recruitment and hiring program for “aspiring minority teachers,” it said.
At Tuesday’s news conference, Parrish said Roberts has been a “tremendous asset” to the community and his students.
“His spirits are high,” Parrish said.
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican who represents the Des Moines area, released a redacted excerpt of Roberts’ May 2024 removal order, which he obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
The document said Roberts failed to show up to a removal hearing. Nunn also questioned how Roberts was hired in the first place, given his legal status.
“It is unacceptable that someone under a final order of deportation and without legal work authorization was allowed to lead Iowa’s largest public school system,” he said. “Every parent should be able to trust that school leaders are fully vetted, legally employed and held to the highest standards of accountability.”
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