Politics
NEW: Dem Senate Candidate Quits Race Over Illegal Alien Hiring Scandal
Des Moines Public School Board (DMPS) Chair Jackie Norris ended her short-lived U.S. Senate campaign after facing intense public backlash for defending the hiring of Ian Andre Roberts, an illegal alien who managed to become superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools.
The scandal erupted last month when police arrested Roberts following a dramatic pursuit involving state police and a K9 unit. Roberts, a native of Guyana who once competed as an Olympic runner, had been serving as head of the district, the largest in Iowa, since 2023 despite a final order of removal issued in May 2024.
According to a senior ICE official, Roberts fled from immigration officers after they identified themselves. He allegedly sped away in his vehicle before abandoning it on the roadside. With assistance from the Iowa State Patrol and a police dog, agents tracked him down in a wooded area roughly 200 yards from the car.
When agents searched the vehicle, they discovered a loaded handgun, a fixed-blade hunting knife, and $3,000 in cash, raising further questions about why a sitting superintendent was carrying weapons and large amounts of money while under an active deportation order. ICE also revealed Roberts had a prior weapons arrest from 2020, though the ultimate outcome of that case remains unclear.
The scandal has generated nationwide outrage due to Roberts’ prominent position in a public school.
Norris, a Democrat who previously served as chief of staff for former First Lady Michelle Obama, bucked the trend and opted to come to the superintendent’s defense by urging “radical empathy” towards him. The comments sparked intense backlash, prompting Norris to suspend her U.S. Senate campaign just under 24 hours later.
In her announcement, Norris stated that the “superintendent crisis” demanded her full attention as board chair and put her “in the crosshairs of vicious and coordinated attacks.”
“Those realities took time and oxygen away from the work I set out to do: stand up for our kids and families — and the backbone of our communities, their educators and caregivers,” Norris wrote in a statement.
Norris had been seeking the Democratic Party nomination in a bid to replace retiring Republican Senator Joni Ernst
Despite being arrested multiple times and his immigration status, Roberts holds active voter status and is a registered Democrat in Maryland.
The Des Moines Public School Board conceded that they knew Roberts had not graduated from Morgan State University as he had initially claimed. It is unclear whether they were aware of his immigration status.
