This is the man that ICE just detained. Iowa superintendent and former Olympian bested in footrace by 5th-grader

[sheshe2]

The superintendent they just kidnapped is a former Olympic athlete who runs footraces with the kids from his schools while wearing a maroon suit and a bowtie. This is quite simply about the people in power feeling threatened by Black excellence.

— Damnèd Screamvens (@thehighsign.bsky.social) 2025-09-26T19:26:11.267Z

It seemed like it should be an easy win for Des Moines Superintendent Ian Roberts to dust off his racing shoes and compete against a team of elementary schoolers.

The 47-year-old Guyanese runner's skills had taken him around the globe, after all, even competing in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney.

"I showed up to the school, and I'm waiting there. And I saw the principal and teachers and they brought the entire school out to the track. And I'm thinking, 'oh,'" Roberts recalled with a laugh.

What was initially going to be a race between Roberts and Everett Clark, a lucky second-grader who won the chance to race Roberts in a raffle, had grown as more students decided to join. Soon the student body flanked the track.

More:

https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/2024-05-18/iowa-superintendent-and-former-olympian-bested-in-footrace-by-5th-grader

[orangecrush]

1. Bastards

[Deuxcents]

2. A dangerous criminal, no doubt 🙃

[underpants]

3. That article about the foot race is great. How is he Superintendent and ICE is stiffing around for him?

Was he just picked up?
Does there seem to be some problem with his papers?

[sheshe2]

5. There is an article in LBN.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143537593

He is a US citizen. According to a CNN article, he is not.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

9. I've not read anywhere...

…that he’s a US citizen. The Guardian article has added a comment.

This article was amended on 26 September 2025. An earlier version said Ian Roberts was born in Brooklyn based on past interviews. However, a 2023 statement from the district says he was “born to immigrant parents from Guyana, and spent most of his formative years in Brooklyn”.

[sheshe2]

11. I struck that in my comment.

I have read several different articles and there is some conflicting info out there.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

13. Early info is always so iffy n/t

[flashman13]

18. That quote is ambiguous. Referring to Amendment 14, if he was born in Brooklyn, regardless of

his parentage or their status, he is an American citizen.

The man is 47 years old with a Doctorate. He has an Anglo name. If he was born in Guyana, I find it hard to believe that he has never become a naturalized citizen. I will wait for details, but it is entirely likely that this is just ICE hassling a prominent black man because that is what they were hired to do.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

19. Yes, I'm aware of how birthright citizenship works

I've just not seen anything that says he was born in Brooklyn. He may have been, and they may well have the wrong man - wouldn't be the first time.

[flashman13]

20. I am certainly not implying that you are not. My point was that the existing information is ambiguous.

[MichMan]

84. Statement by Des Moines board president Jackie Norris

DHS described him as a “criminal alien” and suggested he was a public safety threat. But at a news conference after his arrest, board president of Des Moines Public Schools Jackie Norris said the superintendent was “an integral part of our school community” who “has shown up in ways big and small” for students and staff.

The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners issued Roberts a license to serve as superintendent in the state in July 2023, according to Norris.

On his application for the job, Roberts said he was a US citizen who was eligible to work in the district, Norris said at the board meeting Saturday.

Norris said the school district only recently learned of the final removal order for Roberts issued by a judge in 2024. “We were not made aware of that fact, and that’s very concerning,” Norris said. “I want to be clear – no one here was aware of any citizenship or immigration issues that Dr. Roberts may have been facing.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/who-is-ian-roberts-the-iowa-school-superintendent-accused-by-ice-of-being-in-the-us-illegally/ar-AA1Nqzcp?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[SickOfTheOnePct]

85. Yep, I saw that after I had posted previously

Thank you!

I did see that he has an attorney now, so I guess we'll see what happens.

If they truly have a deportation order for him, he's got other issues; the Iowa state board said today that he said on his superintendent application that he's a U.S. citizen...but they don't issue a deportation order until they revoke naturalization, which is very difficult to do.

[MichMan]

86. I edited after I saw your comment, to include the statement by the Des Moines board president

Des Moines schools has a lot of explaining to do

[SickOfTheOnePct]

87. They're laying it at the feet of the vetting company...

...which I get, and the vetting company is saying they don't look into immigration status.

[MadameButterfly]

61. Didn't he compete in the Olympics for Guyana?

I would think that makes him a Guyanan citizen. Unless born in American and then adding dual citizenship for Guyana to compete. If that's a thing.
It seems more likely he is one of many who have found the path to citizenship in the US not so easy and in the meantime was living his life.

[IL Dem]

71. Not necessarily.

I follow international Figure Skating pretty closely, and the Winter Olympics. I know that Russian athletes are getting around sanctions against Russia by skating for other countries.

[MadameButterfly]

72. I'm aware of a female ice dancer

having to get citizenship in Georgia (the country) to skate with a male Georgian ice dancer. i'm sure she also kept her US citizenship. Countries will go out of their way with citizenship if it gives them an edge in the Olympics. i don't know if those Russians skaters are having to get citizenship or what the Olympic rules are. But it was required for this one skater I know.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

73. And he is a Guyanese citizen...

...even if he later naturalized, so it would have zero issue for him to compete for Guyana.

[MadameButterfly]

79. of course. Except there are some people

saying he was born in Brooklyn

[SickOfTheOnePct]

80. Yes

But according to him, he was born in Guyana.

"My steps have been divinely guided during the past thirty years, and I am confident that they will continue to be guided,” he said, “and one day I hope to return to my birthplace of Guyana, South America as a public servant."

https://www.coppin.edu/andre-ian-roberts-98

This article lists his name as Andre Ian Roberts v. Ian Andre Roberts, but it's obviously the same person, given the reference to the 2000 Olympics, his graduation from Coppin State, and the places he had worked up to that point.

[maxsolomon]

6. One presumes.

He's Guyanese. Maybe he omitted to mention a traffic ticket on his Green Card application.

They're picking up anyone they can for any reason possible.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

10. ICE claims...

…he has an outstanding weapons charge and a final deportation order.

Again, this is IF they have the right person.

[maxsolomon]

16. If that's true then he's fucked. A 2024 Final Removal Order would have come under Biden.

So many of the stories that get national attention are of people that would have got deported under Biden or Obama as well.

The one that comes to mind in the British singer who overstayed her Visa by 20 years and thought she could travel into Canada on an expired passport. When she was denied entry she was picked up by Customs re-entering the US. She should have known not to leave. https://www.newsweek.com/ice-detains-singer-jane-eugene-2103667

[SickOfTheOnePct]

17. Yep

If they have the right Ian Roberts, then yeah, he's absolutely fucked.

And if the 2020 weapons charge is validated, then I would say that the Des Moines school board is going to be under some scrutiny as well.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

45. Regarding the weapons charge. Riberts says he was deer hunting and had his rifle

[SickOfTheOnePct]

48. That was from 2022

ICE claims, no idea if true, that he was arrested on a weapons violation 2020.

[MadameButterfly]

62. This is important

When people say gun charges it sounds like he's a criminal. He's a hunter. It wasn't a handgun or a semiautomatic
It was a rifle. It was careless if he hadn't done what it takes to make it legal. But he's not a criminal.
This is just an excuse.

[MichMan]

64. DHS states that he had a loaded handgun when he was detained

[SickOfTheOnePct]

65. ICE also claims...

...no idea if it's true or not, that there is an outstanding gun charge from 2020 (not the 2022 hunting rifle thing).

[MadameButterfly]

66. If this is true of course there's no hope

and maybe if it's not true. I'm not trusting anything out of DHS or ICE these days. I wonder if a reliable source will weigh in.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

68. I'm thinking they may have the wrong Ian Roberts from Guyana...

...as public info (such as the linked article in the OP) doesn't match the ICE info regarding his age.

[underpants]

15. It is a body count. 3,000 daily. Consequences and results be damned.

Hey old timer!

[SickOfTheOnePct]

7. IF they have the right guy...

…and that’s a big if, ICE says he has a final deportation order from 2024, and an outstanding weapons charge.

I’ll see if I can find the link I was reading an hour or so ago.

[KS Toronado]

12. " deportation order from 2024, and an outstanding weapons charge"

That just reeks of made up bullshit !

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

21. entered US on student visa, No work authorization. he was living on borrowed time.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

24. Sure sounds like it

And an outstanding weapons charge. And illegally possessing a firearm in a county vehicle.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

22. undocumented, no work authorization, removal order. He may be a great guy but it's amazing he was hired.

I worked in the school system. finger printing and background check required.

[Lifeafter70]

41. Yep

I volunteer in my ggrandson class and had to get finger printed, background check and tb test.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

46. School says he completed the I9 form, where you deckare legal to work in US

[SickOfTheOnePct]

49. Yep

He may well have naturalization papers that he showed them in 2023, but then the question becomes how did a deportation order get issued in 2024?

I read about some factory or something in Omaha a couple of months ago where they arrested a bunch of people. They all had filled out I-9s, but the docs they provided were fraudulent.

It’s a mess that is going to have to be sorted out for sure.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Abolish ICE.

[ReRe]

25. I don't believe a GD word ICE says at this point! n/t

[SickOfTheOnePct]

36. Hopefully he has a lawyer...

...who can provide his naturalization papers, then he can sue the hell out of ICE.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

77. Better yet...

deport them.

[Dave Bowman]

78. In Russia they would feel right at home.

[dalton99a]

8. Kick

The superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools — Iowa’s largest school district – was detained Friday morning by immigration agents, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which said the educator was in the country illegally and had existing weapon possession charges.

Superintendent Ian Roberts – an educator with decades of experience who previously competed as an Olympic athlete – was arrested as part of a “targeted enforcement operation” and fled after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers approached him, according to statements from DHS and the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

DHS said he was “in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife” at the time of his arrest. It’s a violation of federal law to own a firearm and ammunition if an individual doesn’t have legal status in the US.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/26/us/ian-roberts-des-moines-superintendent-arrested-ice

[KS Toronado]

14. "in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife"

Sounds like more made up bullshit !

[markodochartaigh]

26. Except for the $3,000 cash

that’s about half the men in a lot of red states.


And I would like to say how classy it is that no one in this thread said, "Who does ICE think they are, the fashion police?"

[Bettie]

27. In Iowa

anyone can open or conceal carry a firearm, unless they are legally prohibited from having one.

Anyone can carry cash as well, last I checked, that was legal.

Old Kim is angry that he won't let people who are masked and refuse to show ID grab children from public schools and take them to places where they will never be heard from again.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

29. IF he is here illegally...

…he can’t have a firearm. And I would assume that firearms aren’t permitted in school-owned vehicles, but could be wrong.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

47. Im not understanding Riberta timeline, in US as student in 99, competed in Olympics for Guyana in 2000

[dalton99a]

70. It's not uncommon for a foreign-born athlete to represent their native country if they still have citizenship of

that country

[republianmushroom]

23. The republican American Gestapo at work.

[Cha]

28. what an Endearing story of Ian Roberts

and the kids in the Iowa Elementary School.

What can be Done about these ICE Ethic Cleansers?

Mahalo, she.

[Hekate]

30. To those trying to establish the guilt of this man: why would you believe anything ICE says?

At this point — why would you believe the first version of anything they say? They have a quota of 3,000 bodies a day, regardless.

They stake out government buildings where people are coming for routine status checks. They throw people to the ground and claim the person resisted arrest. It takes 6 heavily armed “agents” to throw down and pile on anyone they suspect of even giving them the side-eye. Old men, old women, women with children in their arms, Army veterans, US citizens — the world is just full of mortal danger to these “heroes” from brown and black human beings.

My US Senator is neither old nor small, but he is brown — and sure enough, he was piled on, thrown to the floor, and handcuffed by somewhere between 4 and 6 “agents” inside a federal building where he had legit business, because he stopped to ask Kristi Noeme a question at a press conference.

ICE has zero credibility in my opinion.

[sheshe2]

32. Thank you for this Hekate.

That was Padilla, correct? SMDH.

You are right, I don't believe anything Ice, Noem or this Admin says.

[Hekate]

35. Right, Alex Padilla, going about his lawful business as a US Senator. Thugs. Lawless, sadistic, thugs.

[sheshe2]

39. I remember watching the videos as he was tackled to the floor.

Unfugging believable...or at least it used to be. Not so much anymore.

[MayReasonRule]

33. ... Less Than Zero Crediblity... Damn Shame If The Whole Organization 'Melted'... Damn Shame... Big Tears...

[SickOfTheOnePct]

37. They could be lying about the loaded gun, the knife, & the cash...

...but if he isn't able to provide naturalization papers, he's cooked.

[Hekate]

40. And? If he doesn't have his naturalization papers to hand, why do they need so badly to lie abt all else?

ICE lies about everything, and they are sick, twisted bastards.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

42. I'm not saying they should lie or need to lie

They may well be lying, I'm not there, so I have no way of knowing.

But it appears that he wasn't born in the United States, but could well be naturalized, in which case he needs to provide that paperwork and then sue the government.

But if he doesn't have those papers, then they can deport him. IF there is already a deportation order for him, it will most likely be quick. If they're lying about the existing deportation order, then he needs a good immigration lawyer to ensure that he has due process.

[Hekate]

43. Any idea how much a "good immigration lawyer" costs? My husband is naturalized...

He knows where all his papers are — including Vietnam era military service — but if he were snatched up, I am actually not sure I do. And since I’ve never had to look for an immigration lawyer, I wouldn’t know a good one from a mediocre or a dishonest one. And we both have college degrees and a full command of the English language.

This is all in the category of outrageously illegal crap that ICE is doing, and you know it. Guilty until proven innocent — and the burden of proof is on the accused, not the accuser. Thousands of arrestees have been disappeared, and when they do surface, it’s in another state hundreds of miles from their families. ICE is in the wrong every step of the way.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

44. He's making close to $300k/year, he can afford a good attorney

He's very well educated, as well as liked and respected by the community - good lawyers are no doubt lining up to take his case.

And while I find many of the tactics that ICE is using abhorrent, it's not "outrageously illegal" for them to enforce immigration laws.

There is no presumption of innocence in immigration courts, so yes, the burden of proof that someone is here legally is on that person.

IF (big if) there is indeed an existing deportation order, then ICE will have to provide it to Guyana, if that's where they plan to send him, or to a third country, if Guyana won't accept him. They will also have to provide it to his attorney.

A spokesman for the school board said the provided an I-9 and documentation, and that they did a thorough background check. If that's the case, and if his documents were valid, then it seems that ICE has royally screwed up, and he's most likely looking at a huge payout.

[Hekate]

50. So the option of lawsuits makes it all right in your mind? Bcs that's what I hear you saying...

Like it’s just no biggy, what's happening all over the country. You can’t put yourself in the shoes of all the innocents who have been disappeared? If you really can’t draw back from the characteristic smear that’s happening to this one Black man, and see how bad the entirety of destructiveness is to the US, we probably need to take a break from this conversation.

Look at the whole picture. ICE is an organization created for terrorizing us all. When Gov. Newsom gave that great interview w/ Steven Colbert, he said ICE is now 30,000 strong, and amounts to the largest private army on the planet.

(Newsom covers a range of topics, and it’s only 15 minutes of your time.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/132289725 )

[SickOfTheOnePct]

51. I never said it was no biggie

But it’s simply a fact that if he is here illegally, and if he has a final deportation order, then no law is being broken by detaining him.

[ReRe]

53. Your last paragraph includes the truth

that defines ICE: ICE is the opposite of Justice. I do not believe that all the captured individuals are being allowed due process. IOW, they are filling quotas for Steve Miller. Disappearing as many as they can. Doesn't matter if they aren't a criminal. It appears to me they are deporting all immigrants. Period.

This whole Ice thing is driving me out of my mind.

[Hekate]

57. Thank you for getting it. Any person on our soil is Constitutionally entitled to due process...

Fair treatment. Actual justice. The ICE thugs — masked, warrantless, no ID, windowless vans, heavily armed out of all proportion to a civilian situation — every part of them and their behavior is un-American. We are all going to pay a heavy price for thisepisode of our history.

After what’s happened in my own state and county and town, I want ICE disbanded and prosecuted in a court of law. They’re “following orders” sure they are.

[ReRe]

59. It must be hard for you .

I'm sure it's happening where I am, but I don't keep up with local news. And I don't get out. I'm an old curmudgeon. Guess I need to re-subscribe to my local newspaper/watch some local TV. So sorry that you are right in the middle of an area where they are going wild. It's legal kidnapping, for God's sake! They are killing America. The land of descendents of immigrants.

[Kingofalldems]

67. There is one flooding the thread.

[Joinfortmill]

31. School superintendent? This is Nazi Germany shit.

[some_of_us_are_sane]

34. Any black-faced person who is a HERO

MUST be silenced by that band of 'fascist-KKK-rightwing' goose-steppers.


THEY DO SPICE THE SOUP:

$50,000 for new recruits
-The incentive is part of a major recruitment drive aimed at increasing the agency's law enforcement personnel.

Other incentives offered by ICE in 2025 include:
-Student loan repayment or forgiveness options, with the possibility of receiving up to $60,000.
-A "return to mission" campaign to attract retired federal law enforcement officers.
(These retirees can receive their full basic annuity and full salary on a term-limited basis.)

Enhanced retirement benefits.
-Overtime pay, such as Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP) for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
Special Agents and Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUI) for Enforcement
and Removal Operations (ERO) Deportation Officers.)



(ANYONE MAKING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THAT AND '30 PIECES OF SILVER'?

[ReRe]

54. "40 acres and a mule" is what it sounds like to me. n/t

[some_of_us_are_sane]

60. Precisely.

21st century version.

[0rganism]

38. If life survives the next 20 years, surviving humans need to remember stuff like this so it doesn't happen again

And by "remember" I mean establish some hard cultural taboos against being unkind to neighbors and visitors.

[quakerboy]

52. Is anyone keeping a collection of all of the folks ICE is doccumented to have taken

And the various news articles about it?

[ReRe]

55. IMO, Ice needs to be publishing

all nabbed detainee names & addresses in the newspaper of the County Seat in which
they took them from. Easy-peasy. Poof. A list!
They are disappearing people for Christ's sake. I totally agree with you, quakerboy!

[quakerboy]

56. Given the number of folks, including citizens

being kidnapped, I think we would benefit from an organized, easy to access record.

ICE has no interest in documenting and exposing their own crimes, and were never held into account under any administration.

Its on we the people to document, remember, and hopefully someday when we regain a democracy pursue justice.

[ReRe]

58. You're right.

Maybe the public could report missing/nabbed individuals to the County Courthouse.
Or show up at the police depts to file a Missing Persons document.
Something needs to be done pronto, that's all I know.

[riversedge]

76. It would certainly be great if there was a running record of All the incidents carried out by ICE.

[MichMan]

63. Once we get back control in 2029, need to abolish ICE, prohibit all deportations, & repatriate any deported since 2017.

[Kingofalldems]

69. Oh sarcasm.

MAGAt ICE will be abolished for sure.

[WhiteTara]

74. and that there will be elections in 2028

all those old quaint notions were just made to be eliminated.

[indusurb]

75. So you're telling me that this man who has served in various positions in education

In the following systems, New York City, Baltimore, Washington, DC, St. Louis, Oakland,and Erie, Pennsylvania, was never flagged during his background checks? I mean really now, every state requires a federal or state(or both) background check, paperwork(such as birth certificate) and fingerprinting, even for the most minor of positions. Yet in eight different school systems he was never flagged?

This is either a case of mistaken identity or some seriously nefarious bullshit is going on.

[Initech]

81. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration.

Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration.Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration.Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration. Fuck this administration.

[Greg_In_SF]

82. This is how

Last edited Sat Sep 27, 2025, 05:14 PM - Edit history (1)

Visa law works worldwide. Don't overstay your visa and don't work if you are not authorized to.

edit: Also, don't get caught carrying a gun when you're already up on gun related charges.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

83. It's all really strange

Across different articles/artifacts, there are discrepancies in his age, with ages ranging from 47 years old to 54 years old. You'd think that someone could come up with a single year of birth.

[MichMan]

88. Dr. Ian Roberts' license revoked by Iowa Board of Educational Examiners

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners has revoked the license of Dr. Ian Roberts, the Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Des Moines on Friday.

The Iowa Department of Education provided the letter informing Dr. Roberts of its actions on Monday morning. The letter was dated Sunday, September 28th, stating “Our office has received information that you no longer possess legal presence in the United States, therefore you are not able to hold a license issued by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners (Iowa Code 256, Iowa Administrative Code 282). The license issued by the Board of Educational Examiners is no longer valid and your authority to serve as superintendent is revoked.”

https://who13.com/news/dr-ian-roberts-license-revoked-by-iowa-board-of-educational-examiners/