ICE busts top school superintendent living in U.S. illegally, with weapons and cash

By Kristen Kniep  

Nevada News and Views

On Friday, September 26, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Dr. Ian Andre Roberts, superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, and the story has Americans shaking their heads.

Roberts was pulling down a $270,000 taxpayer-funded salary while living in the country illegally.

When ICE finally caught up with him, Roberts had a loaded Glock 19 handgun, a fixed-blade hunting knife, and $3,000 in cash in his car.

He even tried to run from officers before being caught with the help of a police dog.

Add in a prior 2020 weapons charge and a deportation order from May 2024, and you’ve got a case that highlights just how broken our immigration system has become.

25 Years in America and Nobody Checked His Papers

Roberts first entered the U.S. back in 1999 on a student visa.

Over the years, he climbed the education ladder, eventually becoming superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district, overseeing more than 31,000 students.

Yet the government somehow missed that his visa had expired, and he was ordered deported more than a year ago.

This isn’t just about one man. A 2023 study by the Migration Policy Institute found that only 54 percent of employers consistently verify whether their workers are legally allowed to work.

That means almost half of employers aren’t doing their job. And when it comes to public schools — funded entirely by taxpayers — that kind of failure is unacceptable.

Conservatives See Roberts as Another Symbol of a Broken System

Conservatives see Roberts’ arrest as proof of what they’ve been saying all along: America’s immigration system is riddled with loopholes and bad enforcement.

The fact that someone here illegally could rise to such a high-paying position in public education shows the system isn’t working.

Instead of putting American citizens first, school boards and government agencies too often look the other way, whether out of laziness, political correctness, or DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) agendas that prize “representation” over the law.

Then there’s the issue of public safety. ICE has long said it focuses on “the worst of the worst” criminals.

But The Guardian reported in 2025 that there are now more non-criminal immigrants in detention (16,523) than criminal ones (15,725).

Cases like Roberts — with weapons charges and a deportation order ignored for more than a year — make it clear that dangerous individuals can and do slip through the cracks.

Could This Happen in Clark County Schools?

Nevada has one of the highest immigrant populations in the country.

About 29 percent of our population is Latino, and the Migration Policy Institute estimates roughly 70,000 children of undocumented immigrants are enrolled in schools statewide. Clark County School District alone has over 300,000 students.

Nevada taxpayers are already stretched thin. The median household income here is about $65,000 a year, far below the $270,000 Roberts was being paid.

While this story has been playing out in Iowa, there’s no real reason it couldn’t be happening here in Nevada.

When high-paying public jobs go to those who aren’t even supposed to be in the country, it’s no wonder citizens lose faith in the system.

With President Trump back in office and pushing ICE to carry out 3,000 arrests daily, Nevada conservatives are likely to demand stronger E-Verify laws and closer checks on public employees.

Beyond Iowa: Lessons for Every State

Critics on the left say Roberts’ arrest proves ICE is targeting people who aren’t a real threat. But ask yourself: should an illegal immigrant with a gun, a knife, and a deportation order be running a school system?

Conservatives say no. They argue this isn’t about “compassion” or “equity.” It’s about protecting American jobs, ensuring public safety, and holding government accountable.

The Roberts case is a wake-up call. If the government can miss something like this in Iowa, it could be happening anywhere — including Nevada.

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Born and raised in Las Vegas, Kristen Kniep is a budding journalist focused on underreported national stories and local events, offering readers a conservative perspective often missing from mainstream coverage. Driven more by curiosity than partisanship, she aims to highlight stories that matter but don’t always make the front page.