By Evaristo Lara
Ian Andre Roberts, an immigrant originally from Guyana, will spend two years in prison for living illegally for several years in the United States and also having deceived the authorities into hiring him as a school official.
In September of last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained Ian Roberts, superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa, after discovering that he has been living illegally in the United States for more than 20 years.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ICE’s parent agency, the subject in question, in addition to remaining in the United States without the necessary documentation to prove his stay, also did not have authorization to work.
The controversial thing about the matter is that, As of July 2023, he served as superintendent of Iowa’s largest public school district.
The records of the immigration authorities indicate that, thanks to a student visa, Ian Andre Roberts entered the United States in 1999, But in May 2024 an immigration judge gave him a best deportation order, which he refused to obey.
In addition, since February 5, 2020, there are charges against him for possession of weapons.
The most delicate thing regarding this last point was that, at the time of his arrest a few months ago, he was carrying a loaded pistol and a fixed-blade hunting knife.
According to court documents, the Guyanese immigrant pleaded guilty to lying about his citizenship on employment documents.
The federal investigators in charge of his case announced that at Ian Andre Roberts’ home they discovered that he had three other firearms hidden.
Given the evidence presented against him, a three-year sentence had been requested, but Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger determined to sentence him to only 24 months in prison.
However, the 51-year-old judge It recommended that, once said penalty had been served, the immigration authorities expelled him from the country.
Keep reading:
• Immigrants detained by ICE on hunger strike in New Jersey could be force-fed
• DHS considers restricting international flights in cities that defy ICE
• Latino immigrant dials 911 asking for help for his daughter and ends up detained with a deportation order
