In an embarrassing turn of events, ICE last fall arrested Ian Andre Roberts, superintendent of the Des Moines (Iowa) Public Schools (DMPS), on civil immigration charges, alleging he was an alien Guyanese national under a final order of removal for having overstayed his nonimmigrant visa. It turns out deportation was the least of Roberts’ worries, because on May 29, he was sentenced to two years in federal prison on immigration fraud and firearms charges in a case that leaves a lot of questions unanswered, and that underscores two vulnerabilities in how aliens are screened to work in this country.
Ian Andre Roberts
All of this began in September, when ICE announced it had arrested Roberts, “a criminal illegal alien from Guyana in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife”.
According to the agency, Roberts — who was admitted on a nonimmigrant student visa in 1999 — had a weapons possession charge from February 2020 and a final removal order in May 2024 and yet managed to secure the position of DMPS superintendent, even though he wasn’t authorized to work.
As I noted at the time this unusual news broke, Roberts graduated from Coppin State University (“CSU”, where he is still glowingly described on the school’s website) in Baltimore in 1998, where he was a track star, with a degree (ironically) in criminology.
After leaving CSU, he reentered the United States on an F-1, nonimmigrant student visa to attend St. John’s University in New York, where he purportedly earned a master’s degree.
While at St. John’s, he qualified for the Olympics, representing Guyana in the Summer Games in Sydney, Australia, in 2000.
All in all, he purportedly “completed education programs” at CSU, St. John’s, Morgan State University (also in Baltimore), Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, and Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, and an MBA program the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Sloan School of Management.
While he apparently did receive a “master of science education/general and special education (grades 7-12)” from St. John’s, it’s unclear how much of the rest is true.
Iowa Public Radio reported on October 4 that while he attended Morgan State from the fall of 2002 to the spring of 2007 in pursuit of a doctorate in “urban educational leadership ... he did not achieve a degree nor a certificate from Morgan State”.
The Des Moines School Board reportedly became aware of that fact during a background check before he was hired in 2023, when his “doctoral” claim was changed “to note ABD, or ‘all but dissertation,’ which is required to earn such a degree”, as per the local CBS affiliate in Des Moines.
And MIT told USA Today the respected university “does not have records of Roberts attending”, while neither Harvard or Georgetown would confirm that he had matriculated or completed programs there.
(Partially Disputed) Work History
And it’s not entirely clear what Roberts did with whatever education he received before arriving in Des Moines.
In the sentencing memorandum it filed in connection with his federal criminal case in May, DOJ alleged that he had worked as a principal in Maryland between 2008 and 2010 (which is apparently undisputed) and served as the “Chief Schools Officer for the Aspire Public Schools in Oakland, California” from July 2018 to November 2019 (also ostensibly undisputed).
Roberts seemingly disputed, however, the government’s claims that he also worked as a principal in D.C. (between 2010 and 2014), as the “the Senior Vice President of the Lighthouse Academies Inc. in Wesley Chapel, Florida” (July 2014 to June 2015), as a “school district administrator at the St. Louis, Missouri Public Schools” (July 2015 to June 2018), or as the superintendent of schools in a small township in northwest Pennsylvania (August 2020 to June 2023).
Curiously, he also appeared to have disputed a claim in the government’s sentencing memorandum that he was employed as the “superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools”, though that fact was heavily covered in both local and national media.
Meanwhile, a January exposé in the Des Moines Register painted a very disturbing picture of Roberts, including a statement from the purported mother of one of his children that “He’s delusional” and a claim that a book he had published, described as “part memoir, part education policy manifesto”, included “several apocryphal stories” (notorious former D.C. mayor Marion Barry makes an appearance).
The Gun Charge
Roberts was charged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa (S.D. Iowa) with two offenses: “false statement for employment” in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(b)(3); and “illegal alien in possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5)(A) and § 924(a)(8). He was convicted following a plea by the S.D. Iowa and sentenced to two years in a federal prison in Illinois.
Taking the firearm conviction first, § 922(g)(5)(A) makes it a federal offense “for any person who, being an alien is illegally or unlawfully in the United States” to possess a firearm, while § 924(a)(8) is the penalty provision for that offense, allowing for a sentence of up to 15 years and a fine for each violation.
Roberts signed a plea agreement on both charges in January, admitting that in addition to the “loaded Glock Model 19, nine-millimeter pistol” ICE found in his car when they stopped him on September 26, he also had at his residence: “a loaded and chambered Sig Sauer, Model P320, nine millimeter pistol”; a “loaded Remington, Model 783, .270 WIN caliber rifle”; and “a Remington, Model 870, 20-gauge shotgun”.
The government alleged (though Roberts didn’t admit) it also found “over 300 rounds of ammunition, spread out over both [Robert’s] residence and vehicles”, that the pistol was discovered with 16 rounds of ammo in it under a chair cushion in his living room, at least two loaded magazines, and that investigators discovered “a 245-page book titled ‘Concealed Carry & Home Defense Fundamentals,’ located in the kitchen”.
And, according to the government, one of Roberts’ shotguns (and 32 shells), were “located in the primary bedroom behind the headboard inside a case” (there was no admission to that claim, either).
Admittedly, I’ve never been to Des Moines, but it’s not usually thought of as a criminal hot spot (unlike my erstwhile hometown of Baltimore, where I never kept loaded firearms around), raising the first question: Who or what was the school superintendent so afraid of, and how reasonable was that fear?
Even stranger is the fact that the Glock ICE officers found under the driver’s seat of his car allegedly was “affixed with a red dot optic and a pistol light, loaded with 13 rounds of ammunition” and accompanied by “an extended firearm magazine containing 29 rounds with a 33-round capacity, a wallet with $3000 in cash, [his] Guyana passport” (which he had renewed in 2024) and “an expired employment authorization card”.
Again, Roberts didn’t admit to those facts, but if true they paint a picture of a man preparing for any chance encounter, followed by a very quick getaway.
The Immigration Charge
The government further alleged it also found a “counterfeit social security card” under Roberts’ driver’s seat, which brings me to the second charge, for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(b)(3).
That provision makes it a felony (punishable up to five years and a fine) to use “a false attestation for the purpose of satisfying a requirement of section 274A(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act” (INA).
Section 274A of the INA, as I have explained in the past, both makes it a crime to hire an alien who lacks employment authorization (section 274A(a) of the INA) and to hire an alien without complying with the “employment verification system” in section 274A(b) of the INA.
Employers comply with section 274A(b) both by completing and requiring new employees complete an I-9, “Employment Eligibility Verification” form — a requirement that, if you’ve been hired for a job in this country in the past four decades, you’re likely familiar with.
In section 1 of the Form I-9, new employees must provide certain biographical information (name, date of birth, address, etc.) and — most importantly — check one of three boxes to attest to the fact they are “work authorized” because they are either a U.S. citizen, or a lawful permanent resident (“LPR”, that is, a “green card” holder), or “an alien authorized to work until” a date certain.
By signing and dating that document at the end of section 1, the new employee attests — "under penalty of perjury" — the information provided is “true and correct”; a false attestation is punishable under 18 U.S.C. § 1546(b)(3), the crime for which Roberts was charged.
In addition, new employees must present documents that identify them and show they’re authorized to work in the United States, which the employers then list in section 2 of the Form I-9.
While there are many different documents new workers can present to prove their identity and prove they may be employed in this country, most provide a driver’s license (as an identity document) and a Social Security card (as an employment authorization document).
Roberts admitted that when he was hired by DMPS on June 5, 2023, he attested to being a U.S. citizen even though he was an alien present illegally and therefore “was not and has never been a United States citizen” — and consequently was found guilty by the S.D. Iowa of violating § 1546(b)(3).
In addition, the government alleged that Roberts “provided a Maryland driver’s license and a fraudulent social security card” when he was hired by the DMPS (logically as part of the Form I-9 process).
That document was fraudulent, the government contended, because it “was counterfeit and not validly issued by the Social Security Administration”, but instead bore the “social security number” (SSN) he was validly assigned in 1999, when he was in lawful nonimmigrant status.
Two Vulnerabilities in the Current Work Authorization Verification System
If true, Roberts could also have been prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. § 1546(b)(2) for using “an identification document knowing (or having reason to know) that the document is false” for I-9 purposes, as well, but more importantly these claims underscore two vulnerabilities in the current way DHS implements the employment verification system in section 274A(b) of the INA.
First, nonimmigrant aliens lawfully present who either (1) have temporary work authorization or (2) need SSNs due to “a valid non-work reason for needing” an SSN or “because of a federal law requiring a [SSN] to get a benefit or service” can obtain a “restricted” Social Security card.
If the alien has temporary permission to work, that card will state at the top “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION”, and if the card was issued for some other valid purpose, it will state “NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT”.
Counterfeit Social Security cards aren’t difficult to come by, however, so any alien with a validly issued but restricted SSN could easily transfer that number to a fake card and offer it when completing the I-9, with any check of the Social Security system showing the SSN does in fact belong to the bogus document holder.
Unless the employer uses E-Verify, USCIS’s online system that “allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States by comparing an employee's Social Security number and other information against millions of government records” during the I-9 process, however, there’s no way for an employer to determine that a fake card with a real SSN offered by a new employee to establish “employment eligibility” actually proves nothing.
The second question, then, is whether the DMPS uses E-Verify and if so, were they so overwhelmed by “Dr.” Roberts impressive resume they didn’t bother to use it in his case?
The third question has to do with the Maryland driver’s license Roberts purportedly offered to DMPS when he was hired.
In 2011, Maryland became one of the first states certified to issue “REAL ID” compliant driver’s licenses, but to obtain such a document in the Free State, applicants must establish their age, identity, that they have an SSN, and their residential address — and as numerous immigrant advocates’ websites make clear, only aliens in lawful status are eligible for REAL IDs.
The government claims Roberts was only authorized to work between April 2000 and 2001 (when he was a student) and between July 2018 and February 2020 (when it appears he had a pending adjustment application), but DOJ asserts he was working in California during most of that latter period, and it’s not clear when he received his Maryland driver’s license.
But wait — you may think — maybe he offered the DMV the purportedly bogus Social Security card with the valid SSN when he sought to obtain or renew his REAL ID? Possibly, but that’s doubtful.
The Maryland DMV uses USCIS’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to verify the lawful status of any alien who applies for a REAL ID, and if Roberts offered that fake card when applying for a REAL ID license when he was out of status, he would have (should have) been denied.
That said, Maryland does issue what are termed “non-compliant” driver’s licenses in lieu of REAL IDs to what the DMV refers to as “people who cannot provide proof of lawful presence”, but those documents are supposed to be marked “not for federal identification” (though I cannot find an exemplar online).
That said, since 2016 Maryland licenses have had a “busy” design, with lots of colors and logos (the base is the beautiful but distracting state flag), and it wouldn’t be difficult to miss the restriction.
Nor would that restriction on a non-compliant Maryland driver’s license necessarily tip off an employer.
As per the instructions on the I-9, a driver’s license or ID card “issued by a State or outlying possession of the United States” is a satisfactory identification document “provided it contains a photograph or information such as name, date of birth, sex, height, eye color, and address”.
In other words, non-REAL ID Act licenses are fine, which is the second vulnerability in DHS’s current scheme for implementing the employment verification system in section 274A(b) of the INA.
DHS started requiring all travelers to present REAL IDs when passing through TSA checkpoints in May 2025, and it’s been almost six years since DHS announced all 50 states were REAL ID-compliant (and more than 21 years since the REAL ID Act was signed), so both travelers and would-be workers have had plenty of time to obtain a compliant document.
In other words, it’s time for DHS to amend the regulations implementing section 274A(b) of the INA and to revise the I-9 to make clear that if a new employee wants to offer a state driver’s license or ID to prove identity for employment verification purposes, it must be a REAL ID.
May Not Be the Last We Hear of Roberts
While Roberts is now in a federal penitentiary in Illinois for his firearm and immigration convictions, we may not have heard the last of his case. Even though he is under a final order of removal, he may yet try to reopen his proceedings, claiming his newfound notoriety is a “changed circumstance” that “materially affects” his “eligibility for asylum” from Guyana.
He was also sentenced to “serve a three-year term of supervised release, which will be non-reporting if he is removed from the United States”. That’s a big “if”, and those who deride immigration enforcement rarely understand how hard it is to deport anybody, thanks to all the “safeguards” built into the system.
Two Final Questions
A glowing profile of “Dr. Ian Roberts” published while he was superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools included the following:
From day one, Superintendent Roberts embraced a philosophy grounded in the Three L's: Listen, Learn, Lead. He wanted to emphasize the importance of truly understanding the needs of the educational community before enacting change.
. . .
Another key focus area is fostering a culturally responsive educational system. With a majority non-white district, a significant proportion of English-Language Learner students, and three-quarters of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, Dr. Roberts believes that it’s important to embed cultural responsiveness into every aspect of school operations. His final focus has been fostering community engagement. Building meaningful, positive, and sustainable relationships with community partners and parents has allowed Des Moines Public Schools to work towards an eventual goal of becoming a hub of support and upliftment for the entire community: “There are many eras of celebration … but I also recognize that there are opportunities for us to grow and improve.”
Say what? Maybe instead of embracing the “three L’s”, “embedding cultural responsiveness”, and “fostering engagement”, our schools should simply teach the “three R’s” and leave the rest to parents, guardians, and the community — that’s worked since McGuffey, the Venerable Bede, and Euclid (respectively), and (along with rulers) was the stock in trade of the Franciscan sisters of my youth. Roberts once told Coppin State University he hoped to return to his “birthplace of Guyana ... as a public servant”. Perhaps DHS will give him that opportunity.
Two final questions: First, who is “Dr.” Ian Roberts, aside from an illegal alien nonimmigrant overstay from Guyana turned school superintendent who seemingly rivaled “Professor” Harold Hill in The Music Man with his ability to flim-flam naïve but powerful U.S. educational institutions? And second, who’s educating our children?