The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released new criminal information in the case of Ian Andre Roberts, the illegal alien hired as superintendent to lead the K-12 Des Moines Independent Community School District.
The criminal history calls into question how he passed an employment background check to work in a school. The district brought a lawsuit Friday against the firm that vetted Roberts, but this employment is not all on one company. Board members should have done their due diligence, personally examined his background, and had more interaction with him.
Democrats have been protesting his removal, but as The Federalist’s Executive Editor Joy Pullman recently wrote, “He’s the inevitable product of a system the Left has built for rewarding people for pushing hateful, un-American ideology at public expense and punishing excellence.”
Roberts has been in the U.S. 29 years, and in that time he has been convicted of reckless driving and unlawful possession of a loaded firearm. He was also charged in separate incidents with criminal possession of narcotics with intent to sell, criminal possession of a forgery instrument, unauthorized use of a vehicle, criminal possession of a firearm, and most recently, being an illegal alien in possession of firearms, according to DHS.
DHS also released information on the status of his presence in the U.S. as it changed over the years. Roberts was repeatedly denied for a green card, but he had several renewals for work visas that kept him in the U.S. However, it appears that once he had a serious weapons conviction, he stopped seeking work visas and conned his way through obstacles. Here is a timeline of his crimes, charges, and immigration status.
Started as a Tourist
Roberts first flew to the U.S. from Guyana on June 1, 1994, landing in Queens, N.Y. on a B-2 nonimmigrant visa, classified as a visitor for pleasure. DHS said he left but came back, and in 1996 Roberts was charged with criminal narcotics possession with intent to sell; criminal possession of narcotics; criminal possession of a forgery instrument; and possession of a forged instrument in New York.
He was charged with third-degree unauthorized use of a vehicle In Queens, N.Y., Nov. 13, 1998, but that case was dismissed July 6, 1999.
Roberts left the country before that case was dismissed because he returned to the U.S. on March 8, 1999, entering at the San Francisco International Airport as a F-1 student visa holder.
Using the same student visa, Roberts reentered the U.S. on Aug. 30, 1999, again through JFK International Airport in Queens..
The visa was good until March 7, 2004.
Work Authorization
On Feb. 9, 2000, Roberts filed an application for employment authorization. It was quickly approved on April 5, 2000, by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and expired April 1, 2001. In 2000, he left the U.S. Sept. 4, and returned Sept. 30 departing and arriving at JFK International Airport in Queens.
On May 21, 2001, he filed a green card application, but was rejected Jan. 3, 2003.
On Nov. 1, 2012 Roberts was convicted for reckless driving, unsafe operation, and speeding in Maryland.
In June 2017, according to internet records, Roberts married Lenisha Roberts in a Florida wedding. In 2019, Lenisha Roberts purchased the pistol found on Sept. 26, 2025, wrapped in a towel, chambered and loaded, in Mr. Roberts’ school-owned Jeep when he was arrested, according to an ATF trace that was mentioned that incident’s criminal complaint. The 2025 complaint also mentions he appeared to be living alone; no female clothing was found in his home. Shortly after starting his job in Des Moines, he was served a restraining order out of Jackson County, Missouri. The name and reason for the order is not made public.
On May 15, 2018, Roberts tried again for a green card and was rejected again on May 30.
On June 4, 2018, just a few days later, Roberts filed another green card application, that too was rejected on June 20.
On July 15, 2018, Roberts filed for employment authorization documents, which were granted five months later, on Dec.18, 2018 and were only good for one year.
On July 16, 2018, at the same time, Roberts made a fourth attempt at a green card based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen. The application was again denied Jan. 24, 2020, this time because he failed to respond to a request for more information, according to the criminal complaint.
On Nov. 18, 2019, He filed another application for employment authorization documents, which was approved for another year, set to expire Dec. 18, 2020. This is the last date Roberts was authorized to work in the U.S. according to the criminal complaint.
On Feb. 3, 2020, Roberts was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon (having a loaded firearm outside his home or business); third-degree criminal possession of a weapon (an ammunition feeding device); and fourth-degree weapon charges. But a document filed the next day, Feb. 4, indicates that the second-degree criminal possession charge was not yet complete.
On Feb. 11, 2020 A few days after the weapons charge, Roberts updated his address with USCIS — immigration services.
ON Oct. 2, 2020 USCIS issued Roberts a notice to appear before an immigration judge.
No Longer Eligible To Work
On Jan. 20, 2022: Roberts was convicted in Pennsylvania for unlawful possession of a loaded firearm.
Feb. 2023, Roberts provided the Des Moines Public Schools a resume claiming he earned a doctorate from Morgan State University in 2007. Turns out he did not. And the school district filed a lawsuit Oct. 3, against One-Fourth Consulting LLC, doing business as JG Consulting, for its handling of the background report, according to KCCI TV, Des Moines.
May 22, 2024, An immigration judge in Dallas, Texas, ordered Roberts removed in absentia. This document, removing him from the U.S. and sending him back to Guyana, was found under the floor mat behind the driver’s seat of his Ford Mustang parked in his home’s garage on the day he was arrested in September. Law enforcement also found, in his home, his employment authorization card that expired in Dec. 2019.
Nov. 25, 2024, Texas immigration attorney Jackeline Gonzalez sent a overdue bill notice which proves to investigators he was aware of his status. He had an outstanding balance of $11,790 to his attorney, the criminal complaint shows. Gonzalez filed a motion to withdraw as his attorney in Jan. 2025, citing the unpaid legal bill.
April 24, 2025, An immigration judge in Dallas denied Roberts’ motion to reopen his case.
Sept. 26, 2025, ICE officials arrested Roberts in Des Moines. He was found with a Glock 9mm pistol, a fixed-blade hunting knife, and $3,000 in cash. After searching his home, law enforcement found a total of four guns, the one in the Jeep and three in the home including a rifle, a shot gun, and nine-millimeter Sig Sauer pistol, loaded and chambered, tucked under the seat cushion of a chair in the living room.
Sept. 29, the Des Moines school board put Superintendent Ian Roberts on unpaid administrative leave after the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners removed his teacher’s license in a Sept. 28 letter.
“You no longer posses legal presence in the United States, therefore you are not able to hold a license,” the letter said.
Oct. 2, 2025, Roberts wascriminally charged with being an illegal alien in possession of firearms.