Des Moines superintendent license revoked, placed on unpaid leave

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The Des Moines school board placed the district's superintendent on unpaid leave after he was detained by ICE last week. The State of Iowa also notified Dr. Ian Roberts that his education license had been suspended due to his immigration status. Roberts was detained following a traffic stop on Friday. He has a right to an appeal – if he was able to successfully stop his removal. Roberts remains in federal custody at the Woodbury County Jail. The board has requested more information about Roberts' immigration status from his counsel. Unless they receive new, material information showing he's eligible to work by noon on Tuesday, the board says they will move to terminate Roberts' contract. The vote could happen as soon as Tuesday evening. Des Moines Public Schools named Associate Superintendent Matt Smith as interim superintendent. MORE INFORMATION: The Iowa Department of Public Safety later said Roberts had been detained after a traffic stop by ICE. Officials said he tried to flee the traffic stop and troopers were called in to help find him. ICE says Roberts is in the United States from Guyana. At the time of his arrest, he was carrying a handgun, $3,000 in cash, and a hunting knife. ICE says Roberts came to the United States legally in 1999 on a student visa. But, an immigration judge ordered him to be removed from the United States in May 2024 due to a weapons possession arrest in 2020. Subscribe to LiveNOW from FOX! https://www.youtube.com/livenowfox?sub_confirmation=1 Where to watch LiveNOW from FOX: https://www.livenowfox.com/ Follow us @LiveNOWFOX on Twitter: https://twitter.com/livenowfox Raw and unfiltered. Watch a non-stop stream of breaking news, live events and stories across the nation. Limited commentary. No opinion. Experience LiveNOW from FOX.