Victor Davis Hanson: How an Illegal Alien Cheated the System to the Top—Until ICE Caught Him

The Daily Signal

News, Government, Politics, Daily News

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ian Roberts, the superintendent of Des Moines, Iowa, boasted an impressive résumé—complete with a supposed doctor of education degree. But what truly stood out was how Roberts managed to advance his career on a résumé filled with false information. What was real, however, was his record: He was living in the U.S. illegally, had an active deportation order, and had a prior weapons charge. How did a man with fake degrees, false citizenship claims, and a criminal record end up leading an entire school district? Victor Davis Hanson says the answer lies in the dangers of DEI on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “ Why would a sophisticated city and a sophisticated school district hire someone without specifying his citizen status or his degrees? And the answer was: He was a diversity, equity, and inclusion candidate. He was a charismatic, apparently, they thought, black American. This was mostly a white city. It had large minority population. They felt it would be a goodwill gesture to hire the first African American—although he was not an African American, he was a citizen of a foreign country. And he was here illegally. But nevertheless, they thought that would be reflecting on their goodwill, their sensitivity, their liberality. “ 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273 👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com (0:00) The Firing of Ian Roberts (0:57) Uncovering the Lies  (4:24) The Role of DEI in Hiring Decisions  (6:01) The Dangers of DEI  (8:06) Conclusion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Say hello to the next generation of Zendesk AI agents, built to deliver resolutions for everyone.
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0:11.9	That's the Zendesk AI effect. Find out more at Zendesk.com.
0:15.1	Ian Roberts, who is an African-American resident alien, we'll get to that in a minute, was recently fired
0:22.6	because of an ICE detention order and they came and arrested him.
0:25.6	It was found out that he is here illegally.
0:28.6	He had a prior weapons charge, and it was also discovered that he is not a doctor of education
0:35.6	as his resume and as the school board fought.
0:39.8	They can't figure out exactly how many degrees he actually obtained.
0:44.8	He never had a doctor.
0:46.1	He lied about a prior arrest for a gun violation.
0:49.6	He lied about his citizen status.
0:51.8	So you basically disqualified dozens of people because
0:55.4	they didn't have the right race or they didn't have the right ethnic background
0:59.1	that is the dangers of DEI hello this is Victor Davis-Hanson for the Daily Signal.
1:15.6	Normally, America does not care when a superintendent of public instruction or a school district is fired, even in a big city like Des Moines, Iowa.
1:27.2	But now we do.
1:28.3	And why?
1:29.6	For a variety of reasons, Ian Roberts, who is an African-American resident alien, we'll get to that in a
1:38.0	minute from Guyana, was recently fired.
1:42.9	And he was fired because of an ICE detention order and they came and arrested him.
1:48.6	He fled, this is the superintendent of schools remember, he fled ICE agents on, and they chased him and he was apprehended, arrested.
	...

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