Iowa School Board Embarrassed Over Immigration Mess, Search Firm Sued

By Carole Hornsby Haynes       October 10, 2025 

If anyone wonders why public schools are hemorraging students as well as teachers, while private and homeschools are soaring, the scandalous hiring and arrest of an illegal alien fugitive from Guyana will end that confusion. 

“Dr.” Ian Andre Roberts, has held several high level positions in public education. His latest position was as the first black superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS), the largest school district in Iowa. 

He was fired because of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention order. When ICE came to arrest him he fled, leading the officers on a high speed chase to a wooded area where he abandoned his district provided car and hid in the bushes. When he was arrested, he had a loaded Glock 9mm pistol, a fixed-blade hunting knife, and nearly $3,000 in cash. He was criminally charged with being an illegal alien in possession of firearms.  

The obvious question is why was Roberts hired? How did he game the education system? Or did he? Is there another game?

For his latest position, Roberts was hired by an all-female school board of Democrats, chaired by Jackie Norris, a former top aide to first lady Michelle Obama and who is now running for the Democratic nomination for senator from Iowa. The board engaged Baker-Eubanks, the background check firm led by Democrat-connected Kim Cockerham, and JG Consulting, a DEI-focused superintendent search firm, to present candidates. The Austin, Texas-based executive search firm, led by President/CEO James Guerra, hired Dr. Michael Hinojosa, former superintendent of Dallas Independent School District, to serve as principal consultant. 

In May 2023, the Des Moines school board hired Roberts as superintendent of the DMPS at a base salary of $270,000. Two months later they got a nasty surprise. Roberts had “forgotten” to report that he had been named in lawsuits for Millcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania and left with Millcreek with legal settlements of $403,500. Why did they then in June 2024 give Roberts a pay boost of 3.5 percent and a three-year contract extension? 

Now with the fallout over the arrest by ICE of their superintendent, the board is embarrassed over the immigration mess they have created for the school district – and for themselves. 

A thorough – and unbiased – vetting would have revealed a long list of concerns: his birthdate varied across official and unofficial records; his birthplace also varied across unofficial documents; he does not have a doctorate; degrees and military service could not be confirmed; and his public biographies contained many inconsistencies. He claimed to have been named George Washington University’s Principal of the Year, yet the university has never given that award. 

Had JG Consulting checked the records of the Department of Homeland Security, it would have found a very long immigration history for Roberts. He first entered the U.S. in 1994 on a tourist visa, left the country, and returned prior to being arrested on drug charges in 1996. He returned once again in 1999 on a student visa that expired in 2001 but he did not leave. DHS records show that his immigration history includes two visas, four Green Card applications with subsequent denials, and several trips. In 2024 he was ordered to be deported once again, yet remained in the U.S. unlawfully and working without authorization. 

DHS records also show a string of criminal charges including reckless driving, speeding, and possession of loaded firearms. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “Ian Andre Roberts, a criminal illegal alien with multiple weapons charges and a drug trafficking charge, should have never been able to work around children.”  

Since the school board claims to have known about the weapon conviction and illegal status, why was he hired to lead the state's largest school district? Answer? Because he was black -- not because he was qualified, educated, or experienced. There seems to be no evidence that they considered any candidate who was not black. 

Meritocracy was thrown out the window and DEI standards informed the hiring decision. DEI has destroyed our nation’s high standards of excellence and flipped off the Civil Rights Act. Meritocratic standards are abandoned for a specific group with a particular gender or sexual preference or racial or religious background. Instead, they are granted special accommodation not normally given to others. In this case, others who were qualified academically, were legal U.S. citizens, and were not black did not make the list for hiring consideration. 

The Roberts’ scandal is not a minor embarrassment. It is an indictment of DEI with its agenda of special privileges and discrimination that we have allowed to destroy our meritocratic system. It is an indictment of JG Consulting, James Guerra, and Michael Hinojosa. 

This is not an isolated case. Today, search firms exist only to find candidates who will satisfy DEI-driven school boards that value diversity (discrimination and racism) above meritocracy. 

The position of superintendent is often a revolving door with an average national tenure of three to five years. The search firm makes a fee for placing the new superintendent and a fee for filling the vacancy he created. The result is a district continually in a state of flux with ideology-driven administrators with fake or perhaps inflated resumes. 

Guerra has placed leftwing activist administrators across the nation. According to American Liberty News, Guerra has conducted superintendent searches in Houston, Dallas, Austin, and Fort Worth, Texas and in more than 65 other school districts across the nation. He has placed more than 200 other educational executives in school districts across the United States. Where race is indicated, 94% are diverse with 6% white and nearly all women. In 2020 Guerra placed Stephanie Elizalde in Austin ISD and in 2022 moved her to Dallas ISD to fill the vacancy left by Michael Hinojosa. 

Now Hinojosa works as principal consultant for Guerra. Ahhh. Sweet deal for everyone -- except the children and the parents.

But Guerra's lucrative run may be ending.  The Des Moines Independent Community School District has filed a lawsuit against JG Consulting for breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, general negligence and is seeking monetary damages. 

With the all-Democrat school board and the left leaning search firm, we can expect a lively public fight with finger pointing and outrageous lies.  This will not bode well for JG Consulting, James Guerra, and Michael Hinojosa.