In the wake of Ian Roberts’ September arrest for ignoring an immigration judge’s order that he leave the country, state leaders have pushed for government officials to vet job candidates through E-Verify.
Des Moines Public Schools officials have said they didn’t know Roberts, a Guyanese immigrant, was unauthorized to work in the United States when he became superintendent in 2023. Roberts claimed he was a U.S. citizen on employment paperwork and backed up his statement with a Social Security card, which a federal prosecutor later said was fake.
District officials declined to answer questions from the Des Moines Register about how Des Moines Public Schools has altered hiring practices since Roberts’ arrest. A spokesperson said the district can’t discuss the issue because Des Moines Public Schools is suing JG Consulting, the executive search firm that recommended Roberts for the superintendent position.
However, according to an E-Verify database, the district registered to use the portal on Feb. 3 — about four months after Roberts’ arrest. The district registered as other state leaders pushed public employers to check job applicants’ work authorization more thoroughly.
Last October, in the wake of Roberts’ arrest, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an executive order that required state agencies to use E-Verify to review job and professional licensure applications. She then signed a bill June 2 that requires all public employers and private schools to use the portal and another federal database.
E-Verify tells employers whether applicants are eligible to work in the United States, based on information in Social Security Administration and U.S. Department of Homeland Security databases.
3rd Degree Screening CEO Jimmy Waters, who conducts background checks for Des Moines Public Schools and other Iowa districts, said many education leaders began using the portal after Roberts’ arrest.
E-Verify, meanwhile, is at the heart of Des Moines Public Schools’ lawsuit with JG Consulting.
The district sued the Texas-based search firm in October, accusing JG Consulting officials of breach of contract and negligence for failing to catch the fact that Roberts couldn’t work in the United States. In an answer to the district’s complaint, JG Consulting argued that Des Moines Public Schools officials should blame themselves.
“The district failed to comply with the legal requirements to verify Roberts’ immigration status and work authorization status,” an attorney for the company wrote in a Nov. 6 court filing.
For its part, district lawyers suggested in a March 11 filing that Des Moines Public Schools officials thought JG Consulting confirmed Roberts’ eligibility status before he arrived in Iowa.
“JG Consulting led the District to believe it was a registered agent with E-Verify and would be checking immigration status of candidates,” the district’s attorney wrote.
Iowa state Sen. Dave Sires, R-Cedar Falls, who unsuccessfully argued for the Iowa Department of Education to take over Des Moines Public Schools after Roberts’ arrest last fall, said he does not believe the state’s new law would have caught Roberts.
While the law requires districts to enter job applicants’ information into E-Verify, Sires said Des Moines Public Schools officials seemed willing to ignore red flags about the superintendent before his arrest. He pointed to the fact that Roberts initially submitted a resume that stated he earned a doctoral degree from Morgan State University. (In its legal filings, JG Consulting’s attorneys say the firm caught the error and alerted district officials before the School Board hired Roberts.)
“I want our kids to be the brightest and the best in the whole nation,” he said. “We’re trickling toward the bottom, and these are the reasons. I’m amazed. … It’s just shocking to me that no one ever checked out what he said.”
Other critics say E-Verify is unreliable. Federal clerks may enter information incorrectly or slowly.
Last year, after an ICE raid at an Omaha meatpacking plant, the president of the targeted company said managers used E-Verify. But, according to ICE, job applicants evaded detection by using stolen Social Security numbers.
In August, after ICE arrested a police officer who lacked work authorization in Maine, a Homeland Security spokesperson criticized the town’s leaders for “reckless reliance” on E-Verify.
Despite these problems, Des Moines-based immigration attorney Raziel Argueta said the database is employers’ best solution.
“E-Verify is not perfect and riddled with issues,” he said, “but there is not anything better.”
Tyler Jett is an investigative reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at tjett@registermedia.com, 515-284-8215, or on X at @LetsJett. He also accepts encrypted messages at tjett@proton.me.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: DMPS registered for E-verify after Ian Roberts’ immigration arrest
Reporting by Tyler Jett, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Tyler Jett, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
