I spoke to two groups in recent weeks, and people at both gatherings wanted to know about the work of the organization I lead, the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.
If I had known then what I know now, I could have been more effective. I could have advised them to wait a week or two and watch the news surrounding the arrest of Ian Roberts, superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools since 2023, for an illustration of how secrecy breeds distrust.
Last Friday, federal immigration officers took the 54-year-old administrator into custody, ostensibly to enforce a final removal order a federal immigration judge issued in May 2024. Roberts’ biographical information on his employer’s website says he grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of immigrants from the South American nation of Guyana. As of Monday, authorities were holding Roberts in a Sioux City jail pending deportation…