The Des Moines (Iowa) school superintendent has been placed on paid leave a day after federal immigration agents arrested him for allegedly being in the country illegally.
The Associated Press reports that the school board has put Superintendent Ian Roberts on leave, saying he was not available to carry out his duties.
School board president Jackie Norris said Roberts’ arrest Friday made for a “jarring day” but added that board members still didn’t have all the facts.
“I want to be clear, no one here was aware of any citizenship or immigration issues that Dr. Roberts may have been facing,” Norris said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said agents detained Roberts because he was in the country illegally, didn’t have authorization to work and was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024.
ICE agents stopped Roberts while he was driving a school-issued vehicle, and the agency said he then fled into a wooded area before being apprehended with help from Iowa State Patrol officers.
Norris also repeated that the district had done a background check on Roberts before he was hired that didn’t indicate any problems and that he signed a form affirming he was a U.S. citizen.
The Iowa Department of Education says Roberts stated he was a U.S. citizen when he applied for an administrator license. The department said the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners conducted a criminal history check with state and federal authorities before issuing a license.
Roberts had previously said he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana and spent much of his childhood in Brooklyn, New York. He competed in the 2000 Olympics in track and field for Guyana.
ICE said he entered the United States on a student visa in 1999.
