In 2023, the Des Moines School Board appointed Ian Andre Roberts as Superintendent of Schools, granting him one of the most lucrative contracts in Iowa public education.
His base salary began at $270,000. In a state where teachers routinely earn less than $50,000, that figure alone should have drawn scrutiny.
But what makes this case far more disturbing is not the salary, but the man who received it. Roberts was an illegal immigrant with a criminal record that stretched back decades.
The Department of Homeland Security has now released the full timeline of Roberts’ immigration and criminal history.
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Roberts first entered the United States in 1994 on a tourist visa. By 1996, he was arrested in New York for narcotics possession with intent to sell, forgery, and possession of a forged instrument.
Two years later, he was charged in Queens for unauthorized use of a vehicle. None of this prevented him from reentering the country multiple times on student visas, filing for work permits, and applying repeatedly for permanent residency.
Those applications were denied—again and again. In 2001, in 2018, in 2020.
Yet Roberts remained, moving through the system while adding new offenses to his record. In 2012, he was convicted in Maryland for reckless driving.
In 2020, he faced weapons charges in New York. In 2022, he was convicted in Pennsylvania for unlawful possession of a loaded firearm.
Then, in September 2025, he was arrested in Des Moines with a Glock 9mm, a hunting knife, and $3,000 in cash. He has since been charged as an illegal alien in possession of firearms.
How could such a man be entrusted with the education of more than 30,000 Iowa students?
The answer lies with the Des Moines School Board. Either they failed to perform basic due diligence, or they knew and deliberately looked the other way.
Both explanations are equally damning.
At the center of the scandal is Jackie Norris, the Board Chair who oversaw Roberts’ appointment.
Norris is not a career educator detached from politics. She is a longtime Democrat operative who previously served as Chief of Staff to First Lady Michelle Obama.
That fact alone calls into question whether Roberts was hired based on merit—or because political loyalty mattered more than integrity.
The evidence is overwhelming. Roberts’ criminal record and immigration violations made him unfit for any public leadership role.
Yet he was elevated to one of the most powerful education posts in Iowa. For that, the entire Des Moines School Board must resign.
Iowa families deserve leaders who follow the law, not officials who break it.
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