ALEC Model Policy Could Have Prevented Upheaval for Parents and Students in Des Moines, Iowa
In 2023, Iowa’s Des Moines Independent Community School District (DMICSD) contracted with an executive search firm to find candidates to fill an open position for Superintendent of Schools. They thought they had identified the ideal candidate, Ian Roberts. However, E-Verify would have likely flagged Roberts as ineligible to be hired in this country.
Two years later, Roberts was arrested in Iowa by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in September of 2025. According to ICE, Roberts entered the United States in 1999 on a student visa and was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in May of 2024. At the time of his arrest, a loaded handgun, hunting knife, and $3,000 cash were found in his vehicle.
Roberts had a track record of putting struggling schools and districts on a better path. He worked in Baltimore city schools, St. Louis Public Schools, and at a high school in the Anacostia section of Washington, DC. He was also the Superintendent of Schools in Millcreek Township School District in Erie County Pennsylvania. Over the course of his career, his performance was widely praised, but according to the New York Times, there were red flags:
The district learned about a past brush with law enforcement and a misstatement on his résumé about where he had earned a doctorate. But Des Moines officials moved ahead to hire him. Two outside companies were involved in vetting Dr. Roberts, who told district officials and a state licensing board that he was a United States citizen.
Not only that, but multiple parts of Roberts’ resume and his LinkedIn profile were revealed to be inaccurate. Roberts presented a valid Social Security Card and driver’s license and claimed on his Form I-9 to be an American citizen. Both the Millcreek Township School District and Des Moines Public Schools claim that Roberts cleared FBI background checks and immigration eligibility verification.
This unfortunate situation could have been avoided if Des Moines had passed and implemented the ALEC state model E-Verify Requirement Act. This model policy requires employers to verify employment eligibility for new hires through E-Verify and empowers state attorneys general to enforce compliance with the requirement. It also provides civil protections for employers acting in good faith.
E-Verify is an online, federal database that employers can access to confirm employment eligibility. The system compares information from an employee’s completed Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification to U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records to determine if an individual is permitted to work in the U.S.
As of February 2025, 21 states required employers to affirm work eligibility with E-Verify. Iowa was not one of those states when Roberts was hired to oversee a district of 30,000 students. Belatedly, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an Executive Order in October, “requiring all state agencies to verify employment eligibility before hiring workers and to verify immigration status or U.S. citizenship before granting state-issued occupational and professional licenses.”
E-Verify is one of the two federal internet-based systems that Iowa employers can use to affirm work eligibility under the Executive Order. Adopting state employment verification requirements like E-Verify is an effective way to discourage migrants from entering our nation illegally to work and prevent their hiring in both high- and low-profile positions.