The U-S Justice Department will investigate whether the Des Moines school district has prioritized race-based hiring practices rather than evaluating job applicants based on merit. That announcement came amid Tuesday’s news that Des Moines superintendent Ian Roberts — detained by immigration agents Friday — had submitted his resignation and the Des Moines School Board met last (Tuesday) night to accept it. School Board President Jackie Norris says it’s the right decision given the circumstances.

Roberts was the first black person to lead the state’s largest school district, where about two-thirds of students are minorities. Norris says the board moved swiftly to accept Roberts’ resignation because the district got confirmation from federal officials that Roberts is not eligible to work in this country and state officials revoked his license to be an administrator.

A Des Moines law firm is working on reopening Roberts’ immigration case, but lead attorney Alfredo Parrish has confirmed Roberts was born in Guyana in 1970 and could be deported at any moment — even in the midst of the federal government shutdown.

Betty Andrews, president of the Iowa/Nebraska chapter of the N-Double-A-C-P, says no one should rush to judgment about Roberts’ case.

Hundreds of Des Moines high school students staged a walk-out yesterday (Tuesday) to protest Roberts’ arrest and the broader crackdown on illegal immigration. At one point, the students chanted the state motto.

Maryland election officials say Roberts was registered to vote in that state for the past nine years, but had not voted. The Associated Press is reporting Roberts had a Maryland driver’s license from 2001 until last year, when it was exchanged for a New York license. New York law requires a person to make that transaction in person.

O. Kay Henderson, Radio Iowa