Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an executive order 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.
To complete these checks, Iowa will use two federal online systems administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and available at no charge to the state — E-Verify, which confirms work eligibility, and SAVE, which verifies immigration status or citizenship, she ordered.
Reynolds’ Wednesday, Oct. 8, order comes in the wake of former Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts’ high-profile immigration arrest for overstaying a deportation order.
“While it’s the responsibility of employers to ensure those they hire are eligible to work in the United States, in light of recent events with the former superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, I am issuing Executive Order 15, putting safeguards in place that will verify the legal immigration or citizenship status for anyone requesting a state-issued professional license before they provide services for Iowans or are entrusted with the health, safety or education of our communities,” Reynolds said in a statement.
“Additionally, as an employer, the state takes seriously its responsibility to verify work eligibility. While some agencies voluntarily use E-Verify as part of the hiring process, my executive action now makes it a requirement.”
What is E-Verify?
E-Verify, which some state agencies already use, is an online system that confirms an employee’s eligibility to work in the United States.
It compares information from Form I-9, the document that employers must use to confirm employees’ authorization to work in the U.S., to records available to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.
Some state agencies also use SAVE to determine eligibility for certain government benefits and licensing. It provides point-in-time immigration and citizenship information for government agencies that provide health care benefits, social security benefits, education grants, state driver’s licenses and ID cards, and occupational and professional licenses.
The governor’s office says it is “actively engaged with USCIS to determine the best way to operationalize use of each system” and expects to complete a memorandum of understanding this month.
The user authorization process will begin immediately following and is anticipated to be fully operational by the end of 2025.
Sen. Chuck Grassley says E-Verify would have flagged Ian Roberts’ immigration status
Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley has pushed for DMPS to begin using E-Verify after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Roberts’ on Sept. 26.
When DMPS hired the Guyana native in 2023, “Roberts should not have had any valid documentation showing employment authorization,” according to an Oct. 6 news release from Grassley’s office. Grassley cited information from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as part of a request he made into Roberts’ case, including whether the district used E-Verify.
Federal DHS officials confirmed the school district does not use E-Verify. Federal officials have said Roberts held work authorization occasionally over the years, including from 2000 to 2001 and from 2018 to 2020.
Roberts completed an I-9 form, and Phil Roeder, a spokesperson for the district, has said that Roberts gave the district a copy of his driver’s license and a Social Security card.
Roberts also passed a background check conducted by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners and was issued an administrator license in July 2023, which the board has revoked since his arrest. In both cases, Roberts stated he was a U.S. citizen. The state board did not use SAVE before Reynolds’ executive order.
DMPS officials have maintained that Roberts submitted the needed documents to allegedly confirm he was eligible to work in the U.S.
Interim Superintendent Matt Smith said the district is “in conversations about” whether it will begin using the E-Verify system during an Oct. 3 meeting with the Des Moines Register editorial board.
According to the E-Verify website, the Ankeny, Coon Rapids-Bayard, Storm Lake, Panorama and Ballard school districts are the public education systems in Iowa registered as having used E-Verify.
Iowa lawmakers have failed to advance bills requiring E-Verify in the past
Iowa law does not require employers to use E-Verify to determine whether someone can legally work in the U.S., though Republican lawmakers have looked to enact such a requirement.
The Iowa Senate in 2024 passed a bill requiring employers to use E-Verify and barring businesses from knowingly employing an “unauthorized alien employee.” The House has failed to advance these measures in previous legislative sessions, and many of Iowa’s largest business groups have registered in opposition to the legislation.
It is already illegal under federal law to knowingly hire someone who is in the country illegally.
Melissa Saitz, Iowa House Republicans’ communications director, said in an email that E-Verify legislation “will certainly be a topic for discussion during the 2026 legislative session.”
Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville, said in a statement that Roberts’ arrest “has highlighted the need for policies at the state level to combat illegal immigration.”
“E-Verify and other issues to address illegal immigration will continue to be a topic of conversation amongst Senate Republicans over the coming weeks and months heading into the legislative session,” Klimesh said. “I expect we will continue to lead on protecting Iowans from again experiencing this type of fraud and continue strengthening our state regarding illegal immigration.”
Des Moines Register reporter Samantha Hernandez contributed to this article.
Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@registermedia.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @marissajpayne.
This article has been updated to add new information.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Gov. Kim Reynolds signs executive order requiring state agencies to use E-Verify, SAVE
Reporting by Marissa Payne, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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