(Radio Iowa) – 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.

“This is not what we anticipated when we welcomed Dr. Ian Roberts into central Iowa and the Des Moines school district a little over two years ago,” Norris said. “It is a sad and troubling end for an individual who gave many people, especially our students, hope.” 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.

“We didn’t need a longer investigation to address all of the issues,” Norris said. “We needed to look at the two things in front of us, which were just cause.” 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. “They may not have a plane to fly him out, but they may take this opportunity to fly him out,” Parrish said. “We don’t know.”

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. “Obviously Dr. Roberts was a strong voice in the community for education and students,” Andrews said, “and also was someone that many folks in the community were inspired by.” 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.