PROVO, Utah (AP) — An attorney for the 22-year-old man charged with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect-things-to-know-dcde3f792f4d6636d44fb9f4fa53569c">killing Charlie Kirk</a>&nbsp;asked a judge Monday for more time to review the large amount of evidence in the case before deciding if the defense will seek a preliminary hearing.

A preliminary hearing would determine if there is enough evidence against&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shooting-tyler-robinson-suspect-d893cc16fb0937d507283c710c551ef0">Tyler Robinson</a>&nbsp;to go forward with a trial. Defendants can waive that step, but Robinson's newly appointed attorney Kathryn Nester said her team did not intend to do so.

Utah prosecutors have charged Robinson with aggravated murder and plan to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-tyler-robinson-court-death-penalty-f541df08a936e06497ee2342296bc398">seek the death penalty</a>.

Both the defense and prosecution acknowledged at a brief hearing Monday that the amount of evidence that prosecutors have is “voluminous.” Robinson was not present for the hearing and appeared via audio from jail at his defense team’s request.

Judge Tony Graf set the next hearing for Oct. 30.

Defense attorneys for Robinson and prosecutors with the Utah County Attorney's Office declined to comment after Monday's hearing. It took place in Provo, just a few miles from the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-valley-university-charlie-kirk-fd5ca9b3b7338993970dd0a34dafb64b">Utah Valley University</a>&nbsp;campus in Orem where many students are still&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shot-utah-valley-university-students-bc78cfd86a9911b44c9279e32be442bf">processing trauma</a>&nbsp;from the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-conservative-activist-shot-546165a8151104e0938a5e085be1e8bd">Sept. 10 shooting</a>&nbsp;and the day-and-a-half search for the suspect.

Authorities arrested Robinson when he showed up with his parents at his hometown sheriff's office in southwest Utah, more than a three-hour drive from the site of the shooting, to turn himself in. Prosecutors have since revealed incriminating text messages and DNA evidence that they say connect Robinson to the killing.

A note that Robinson left for his romantic partner before the shooting said he had the opportunity to kill one of the nation’s leading conservative voices, “and I’m going to take it,” Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray told reporters before the first hearing. Gray also said Robinson wrote in a text about Kirk to his partner: “I had enough of his hatred.”

The assassination of Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who worked to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-turning-point-trump-cf2a68e4303c5628299ffe383d09c1e9">steer young voters toward conservatism</a>, has galvanized Republicans who have vowed to carry on Kirk's mission of moving American politics further right.

Trump has declared Kirk a “martyr” for freedom and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-charlie-kirk-radical-left-political-opposition-3875efd0674ed2a22a719dfb42ace6ab">threatened to crack down</a>&nbsp;on what he called the “radical left.”

Workers across the U.S. have been punished or fired for speaking out about Kirk after his death, including teachers, public and private employees and media personalities — most notably&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-kimmel-show-suspended-charlie-kirk-ae43c600bd0f2a4c7d3c12077e91b211">Jimmy Kimmel</a>, whose late-night show was suspended then reinstated by ABC.

Kirk’s political organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, brought young, evangelical Christians into politics through his podcast, social media and campus events. Many prominent Republicans are filling in at the upcoming campus events Kirk planned to attend, including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Sen. Mike Lee at Utah State University on Tuesday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757689066912.png" alt="Robinson photo&nbsp; released by Utah governor" />
 <figcaption>Robinson photo&nbsp; released by Utah governor</figcaption>
 </figure>PROVO, Utah (AP) — An attorney for the 22-year-old man charged with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect-things-to-know-dcde3f792f4d6636d44fb9f4fa53569c">killing Charlie Kirk</a>&nbsp;asked a judge Monday for more time to review the large amount of evidence in the case before deciding if the defense will seek a preliminary hearing.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">🚨 BREAKING: Utah prosecutors reveal they have a voluminous amount of discovery evidence against Tyler Robinson! The entire truth is coming out. Robinson is appearing via video from jail today watching closely for updates. <a href="https://t.co/3jnW2DMQ47">pic.twitter.com/3jnW2DMQ47</a>&mdash; Fearless (@FearlessSteps1) <a href="https://twitter.com/FearlessSteps1/status/1972697146873762018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>A preliminary hearing would determine if there is enough evidence against&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shooting-tyler-robinson-suspect-d893cc16fb0937d507283c710c551ef0">Tyler Robinson</a>&nbsp;to go forward with a trial. Defendants can waive that step, but Robinson's newly appointed attorney Kathryn Nester said her team did not intend to do so.Utah prosecutors have charged Robinson with aggravated murder and plan to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-tyler-robinson-court-death-penalty-f541df08a936e06497ee2342296bc398">seek the death penalty</a>.Both the defense and prosecution acknowledged at a brief hearing Monday that the amount of evidence that prosecutors have is “voluminous.” Robinson was not present for the hearing and appeared via audio from jail at his defense team’s request.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1759168023518.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Judge Tony Graf set the next hearing for Oct. 30.Defense attorneys for Robinson and prosecutors with the Utah County Attorney's Office declined to comment after Monday's hearing. It took place in Provo, just a few miles from the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-valley-university-charlie-kirk-fd5ca9b3b7338993970dd0a34dafb64b">Utah Valley University</a>&nbsp;campus in Orem where many students are still&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shot-utah-valley-university-students-bc78cfd86a9911b44c9279e32be442bf">processing trauma</a>&nbsp;from the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-conservative-activist-shot-546165a8151104e0938a5e085be1e8bd">Sept. 10 shooting</a>&nbsp;and the day-and-a-half search for the suspect.Authorities arrested Robinson when he showed up with his parents at his hometown sheriff's office in southwest Utah, more than a three-hour drive from the site of the shooting, to turn himself in. Prosecutors have since revealed incriminating text messages and DNA evidence that they say connect Robinson to the killing.A note that Robinson left for his romantic partner before the shooting said he had the opportunity to kill one of the nation’s leading conservative voices, “and I’m going to take it,” Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray told reporters before the first hearing. Gray also said Robinson wrote in a text about Kirk to his partner: “I had enough of his hatred.”The assassination of Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who worked to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-turning-point-trump-cf2a68e4303c5628299ffe383d09c1e9">steer young voters toward conservatism</a>, has galvanized Republicans who have vowed to carry on Kirk's mission of moving American politics further right.Trump has declared Kirk a “martyr” for freedom and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-charlie-kirk-radical-left-political-opposition-3875efd0674ed2a22a719dfb42ace6ab">threatened to crack down</a>&nbsp;on what he called the “radical left.”Workers across the U.S. have been punished or fired for speaking out about Kirk after his death, including teachers, public and private employees and media personalities — most notably&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-kimmel-show-suspended-charlie-kirk-ae43c600bd0f2a4c7d3c12077e91b211">Jimmy Kimmel</a>, whose late-night show was suspended then reinstated by ABC.Kirk’s political organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, brought young, evangelical Christians into politics through his podcast, social media and campus events. Many prominent Republicans are filling in at the upcoming campus events Kirk planned to attend, including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Sen. Mike Lee at Utah State University on Tuesday.

🎥Suspect in Charlie Kirk killing appears virtually for hearing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Olathe, Ks., man pleaded guilty last week before U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to stealing 41 firearms from a gun store in Raytown, Missouri., and for transporting child pornography on his cell phone into the United States from Mexico.

Frank Guereca, 23, pleaded guilty today to one count of stealing firearms from a federal firearms licensee and one count of transportation of child pornography.

On June 16, 2023, Guereca and two others backed a stolen U-Haul truck into the store of a federally licensed firearms dealer,&nbsp;located in Raytown, Mo., creating a hole in the front of the business.&nbsp; Thereafter Guereca and the others entered through the hole and took 41 firearms from the business.&nbsp; One of the stolen pistols was recovered in Tracy, Ca., on Nov. 14, 2023. A second stolen pistol was recovered in Chihuahua, Mexico, on Dec. 19, 2023. A third stolen pistol was recovered in Juarez, Mexico, on Feb. 6, 2024.

Guereca was arrested on April 25, 2024, as he attempted to cross back into the United States from Mexico. Guereca had in his possession a Samsung Galaxy cell phone, which was seized by law enforcement.&nbsp; Subsequent review of the contents of the phone pursuant to a federal search warrant revealed at least approximately 250 images and 70 videos depicting child pornography, which Guereca transported into the United States from Mexico.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection records, Guereca had previously crossed the border approximately 20 times since the burglary and theft on June 16, 2023.

Under federal statutes, Guereca is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in prison without parole for the firearm theft, and up to 20 years in prison without parole for the transportation of child pornography. The maximum statutory sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bradley K. Kavanaugh and Alison D. Dunning. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Raytown, Mo., Police Department.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1759016708353.png" alt="Security camera image from the burglary in June of 2023 released by Blue Steel Guns and Ammo" />
 <figcaption>Security camera image from the burglary in June of 2023 released by Blue Steel Guns and Ammo</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Olathe, Ks., man pleaded guilty last week before U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to stealing 41 firearms from a gun store in Raytown, Missouri., and for transporting child pornography on his cell phone into the United States from Mexico.Frank Guereca, 23, pleaded guilty today to one count of stealing firearms from a federal firearms licensee and one count of transportation of child pornography.On June 16, 2023, Guereca and two others backed a stolen U-Haul truck into the store of a federally licensed firearms dealer,&nbsp;located in Raytown, Mo., creating a hole in the front of the business.&nbsp; Thereafter Guereca and the others entered through the hole and took 41 firearms from the business.&nbsp; One of the stolen pistols was recovered in Tracy, Ca., on Nov. 14, 2023. A second stolen pistol was recovered in Chihuahua, Mexico, on Dec. 19, 2023. A third stolen pistol was recovered in Juarez, Mexico, on Feb. 6, 2024.Guereca was arrested on April 25, 2024, as he attempted to cross back into the United States from Mexico. Guereca had in his possession a Samsung Galaxy cell phone, which was seized by law enforcement.&nbsp; Subsequent review of the contents of the phone pursuant to a federal search warrant revealed at least approximately 250 images and 70 videos depicting child pornography, which Guereca transported into the United States from Mexico.According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection records, Guereca had previously crossed the border approximately 20 times since the burglary and theft on June 16, 2023.Under federal statutes, Guereca is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in prison without parole for the firearm theft, and up to 20 years in prison without parole for the transportation of child pornography. The maximum statutory sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bradley K. Kavanaugh and Alison D. Dunning. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Raytown, Mo., Police Department.

Kan. man admits stealing 41 firearms, transporting child porn into the U.S.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials put the leader of Iowa's largest school district&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-des-moines-superintendent-ian-roberts-b52a9ea28d002d27832c67513403368e">on administrative leave</a>&nbsp;Saturday, a day after federal immigration agents arrested him because they said he was in the country illegally.

The Des Moines school board voted unanimously to place Superintendent Ian Roberts on paid leave during a three-minute-long special meeting. The board said Roberts was not available to carry out his duties for the 30,000-student district and stated that officials would reassess his status after getting more information.

After the meeting, school board president Jackie Norris read a statement, saying word of Roberts' arrest Friday made for a “jarring day” but noting that board members still didn't have all the facts.

U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-deportations-immigration-expedited-removal-d7146e4e633426afe86031cdf14a60d4">Immigration and Customs Enforcement</a>&nbsp;said agents detained Roberts because he was in the country illegally, didn't have authorization to work and was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024. ICE agents stopped Roberts while he was driving a school-issued vehicle, and the agency said he then fled into a wooded area before being apprehended with help from Iowa State Patrol officers.

He was held in the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City, in northwest Iowa, about 150 miles from Des Moines.

“I want to be clear, no one here was aware of any citizenship or immigration issues that Dr. Roberts may have been facing,” Norris said. “The accusations ICE had made against Dr. Roberts are very serious, and we are taking them very seriously.”

Norris said Roberts has retained a Des Moines law firm to represent him. Lawyer Alfredo Parrish confirmed his firm was representing Roberts but declined to comment on his case.

Norris also repeated that the district had done a background check on Roberts before he was hired that didn't indicate any problems and that he signed a form affirming he was a U.S. citizen. A company that aided in the search for a superintendent in 2023 also hired another firm to conduct “comprehensive criminal, credit and background checks” on Roberts that didn't indicate any citizenship issues, Norris said.

Also Saturday, the Iowa Department of Education released a statement saying Roberts stated he was a U.S. citizen when he applied for an administrator license. The department said the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners conducted a criminal history check with state and federal authorities before issuing a license.

The department said it is reviewing the Des Moines district's hiring procedures for ensuring people are authorized to work in the U.S.

Roberts had previously said he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana and spent much of his childhood in Brooklyn, New York. He competed in the 2000 Olympics in track and field for Guyana.

ICE said he entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999.

A former senior Guyanese police official on Saturday remembered Roberts as a middle-distance runner who could have risen through the ranks of the South American country’s police force had he not emigrated to the U.S. decades ago. Retired assistant Guyana Police Force commissioner Paul Slowe said Roberts entered the Police Force after graduating from the country’s standard military officers’ course.

"He served for a few years and then left. He was not dismissed or dishonorably discharged at all; he just moved on,” Slowe told The Associated Press. “He was a good, promising and disciplined man.”

Associated Press writer Bert Wilkinson in Georgetown, Guyana, contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1758925503158.png" alt="&nbsp;Ian Roberts in February 2020.- photo ICE" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Ian Roberts in February 2020.- photo ICE</figcaption>
 </figure>DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials put the leader of Iowa's largest school district&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-des-moines-superintendent-ian-roberts-b52a9ea28d002d27832c67513403368e">on administrative leave</a>&nbsp;Saturday, a day after federal immigration agents arrested him because they said he was in the country illegally.The Des Moines school board voted unanimously to place Superintendent Ian Roberts on paid leave during a three-minute-long special meeting. The board said Roberts was not available to carry out his duties for the 30,000-student district and stated that officials would reassess his status after getting more information.After the meeting, school board president Jackie Norris read a statement, saying word of Roberts' arrest Friday made for a “jarring day” but noting that board members still didn't have all the facts.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1758925645393.png" alt="-Roberts Photo from September 26, 2025- image ICE" />
 <figcaption>-Roberts Photo from September 26, 2025- image ICE</figcaption>
 </figure>U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-deportations-immigration-expedited-removal-d7146e4e633426afe86031cdf14a60d4">Immigration and Customs Enforcement</a>&nbsp;said agents detained Roberts because he was in the country illegally, didn't have authorization to work and was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024. ICE agents stopped Roberts while he was driving a school-issued vehicle, and the agency said he then fled into a wooded area before being apprehended with help from Iowa State Patrol officers.He was held in the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City, in northwest Iowa, about 150 miles from Des Moines.“I want to be clear, no one here was aware of any citizenship or immigration issues that Dr. Roberts may have been facing,” Norris said. “The accusations ICE had made against Dr. Roberts are very serious, and we are taking them very seriously.”Norris said Roberts has retained a Des Moines law firm to represent him. Lawyer Alfredo Parrish confirmed his firm was representing Roberts but declined to comment on his case.Norris also repeated that the district had done a background check on Roberts before he was hired that didn't indicate any problems and that he signed a form affirming he was a U.S. citizen. A company that aided in the search for a superintendent in 2023 also hired another firm to conduct “comprehensive criminal, credit and background checks” on Roberts that didn't indicate any citizenship issues, Norris said.Also Saturday, the Iowa Department of Education released a statement saying Roberts stated he was a U.S. citizen when he applied for an administrator license. The department said the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners conducted a criminal history check with state and federal authorities before issuing a license.The department said it is reviewing the Des Moines district's hiring procedures for ensuring people are authorized to work in the U.S.Roberts had previously said he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana and spent much of his childhood in Brooklyn, New York. He competed in the 2000 Olympics in track and field for Guyana.ICE said he entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999.A former senior Guyanese police official on Saturday remembered Roberts as a middle-distance runner who could have risen through the ranks of the South American country’s police force had he not emigrated to the U.S. decades ago. Retired assistant Guyana Police Force commissioner Paul Slowe said Roberts entered the Police Force after graduating from the country’s standard military officers’ course."He served for a few years and then left. He was not dismissed or dishonorably discharged at all; he just moved on,” Slowe told The Associated Press. “He was a good, promising and disciplined man.”___Associated Press writer Bert Wilkinson in Georgetown, Guyana, contributed to this report.

Des Moines schools leader on leave after his arrest by immigration agents

<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">Jennifer Shutt</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ashley-murray/">Ashley Murray</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jacob-fischler/">Jacob Fischler</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">Ariana Figueroa</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">Shauneen Miranda</a>

WASHINGTON — Congress’ failure to pass a short-term government funding bill before midnight Tuesday will lead to the first shutdown in nearly seven years and give President Donald Trump broad authority to determine what federal operations keep running — which will have a huge impact on the government, its employees, states and Americans.&nbsp;

A funding lapse this year would have a considerably wider effect than the 35-day one that took place during Trump’s first term and could last longer, given heightened political tensions.&nbsp;

The last shutdown didn’t affect the departments of Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Labor and Veterans Affairs, since Congress had approved those agencies’ full-year funding bills.

Lawmakers had also enacted the Legislative Branch appropriations bill, exempting Capitol Hill from any repercussions.&nbsp;

That isn’t the case this time around since none of the dozen government spending bills have become law. That means nearly every corner of the federal government will feel the pain in some way&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/chance-government-shutdown-rises-us-senate-fails-advance-spending-bill" target="_blank">if a compromise isn’t reached</a>&nbsp;by the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1.&nbsp;

States Newsroom’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/category/dc-bureau" target="_blank">Washington, D.C. Bureau</a>&nbsp;offers you a quick guide to what could happen if Republicans and Democrats don’t broker an agreement in time.

How does the White House budget office determine what government operations are essential during a shutdown?

Generally, federal programs that include the preservation of life or property as well as those addressing national security continue during a shutdown, while all other activities are supposed to cease until a funding bill becomes law.&nbsp;

But the president holds expansive power to determine what activities within the executive branch are essential and which aren’t, making the effects of a shutdown hard to pinpoint unless the Trump administration shares that information publicly.&nbsp;

Presidential administrations have&nbsp;<a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/information-for-agencies/agency-contingency-plans/" target="_blank">traditionally posted</a>&nbsp;contingency plans on the White House budget office’s website, detailing how each agency would shut down — explaining which employees are exempt and need to keep working, and which are furloughed.&nbsp;

That appears to have changed this year. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-resources/guidance/agency-contingency-plans/" target="_blank">web page</a>&nbsp;that would normally host dozens of contingency plans remained blank until late September, when the White House budget office posted that a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/a11.pdf" target="_blank">940-page document</a>&nbsp;released in August calls for the plans to be “hosted solely on each agency’s website.”

Only a few departments had plans from this year posted on their websites as of Friday afternoon.

The White House budget office expects agencies to develop Reduction in Force plans as part of their shutdown preparation, signaling a prolonged funding lapse will include mass firings and layoffs.

While the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-threatens-mass-firings-federal-employees-government-shutdown" target="_blank">two-page memo</a>&nbsp;doesn’t detail which agencies would be most affected, it says layoffs will apply to programs, projects, or activities that are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”

Trump will be paid during a shutdown since&nbsp;<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-2/section-1/" target="_blank">Article II, Section 1, Clause 7</a>&nbsp;of the Constitution prevents the president’s salary from being increased or decreased during the current term.

No one else in the executive branch — including Cabinet secretaries, more than 2 million civilian employees and over 1 million active duty military personnel — will receive their paycheck until after the shutdown ends.&nbsp;

Are federal courts exempt from a shutdown since they’re a separate branch of government?

The Supreme Court will continue to conduct normal operations in the event of a shutdown, according to its Public Information Office.&nbsp;

The office said the court “will rely on permanent funds not subject to annual approval, as it has in the past, to maintain operations through the duration of short-term lapses of annual appropriations,” in a statement shared with States Newsroom.&nbsp;

As for any impact on lower federal courts, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said the federal judiciary was still assessing the fiscal 2026 outlook and had no comment.&nbsp;

The office serves as the central support arm of the federal judiciary.&nbsp;

During the last&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/data-news/judiciary-news/2018/12/22/judiciary-operating-during-shutdown" target="_blank">government shutdown</a>&nbsp;from late 2018 into early 2019,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/data-news/judiciary-news/2019/01/07/judiciary-operating-limited-funds-during-shutdown" target="_blank">federal courts</a>&nbsp;remained open using court fee balances and “no-year” funds, which are available for an indefinite period.&nbsp;

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has said that if those funds run out, they would operate under the terms of the Anti-Deficiency Act, which “allows work to continue during a lapse in appropriations if it is necessary to support the exercise of Article III judicial powers.”&nbsp;

Supreme Court justices and appointed federal judges continue to get paid during a government shutdown, as&nbsp;<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/article-3/" target="_blank">Article III</a>&nbsp;of the Constitution says the judges’ compensation “shall not be diminished” during their term.

What happens to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid?

The three programs exist largely outside of the annual appropriations process, since lawmakers categorized them as “mandatory spending.”&nbsp;

This means Social Security checks as well as reimbursements to health care providers for Medicare and Medicaid services should continue as normal.

One possible hitch is the salaries for people who run those programs are covered by annual appropriations bills, so there could be some staffing problems for the Social Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, depending on their contingency plans.&nbsp;

The first Trump administration’s&nbsp;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201026053427/https://www.ssa.gov/agency/shutdown/materials/contingency-plan-09-23-20.pdf" target="_blank">shutdown guidance</a>&nbsp;for the Social Security Administration showed 54,000 of 63,000 employees at that agency would have kept working. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/budget/fy-2021-cms-contingency-staffing-plan/index.html" target="_blank">CMS plan</a>&nbsp;from 2020 shows that it intended to keep about 50% of its employees working in the event of a shutdown. Neither had a current plan as of Friday.

Will the Department of Veterans Affairs be able to keep providing health care and benefits?

Veterans can expect health care to continue uninterrupted at VA medical centers and outpatient clinics in the event of a shutdown. Vets would also continue to receive benefits, including compensation, pension, education and housing, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs&nbsp;<a href="https://department.va.gov/contingency-planning/" target="_blank">contingency planning</a>&nbsp;for a funding lapse that is currently published on the department’s website. It’s unclear if the plan will be the one the Trump administration puts into action.

But a shutdown would affect other VA services. For example, the GI Bill hotline would close, and all in-person and virtual career counseling and transition assistance services would be unavailable.

Additionally, all regional VA benefits offices would shutter until Congress agreed to fund the government. The closures would include the Manila Regional Office in the Philippines that serves veterans in the Pacific region.

All department public outreach to veterans would also cease.

Will Hubbard, spokesperson for Veterans Education Success, said his advocacy organization is bracing for increased phone calls and emails from veterans who would normally call the GI Bill hotline.

“Questions are going to come up, veterans are going to be looking for answers, and they’re not going to be able to call like they would be able to normally, that’s going to be a big problem,” Hubbard said.

“Most of the benefits that people are going to be most concerned about will not be affected, but the ones that do get affected, for the people that that hits, I mean, it’s going to matter a lot to them. It’s going to change the direction of their planning, and potentially the direction of their life,” Hubbard said.

The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Office of Management and Budget did not respond to a request for current VA shutdown guidance.

What happens to immigration enforcement and immigration courts?&nbsp;

As the Trump administration continues with its aggressive immigration tactics in cities with high immigrant populations, that enforcement is likely to continue during a government shutdown, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2025-03/2025_0303_dhs_procedures_related_to_a_lapse_in_appropriations.pdf" target="_blank">March guidance</a>&nbsp;for operating in a government shutdown.

Immigration-related fees will continue, such as for processing visas and applications from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.&nbsp;

And DHS expects nearly all of its U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees to be exempt — 17,500 out of 20,500 — and continue working without pay amid a government shutdown.&nbsp;

That means that ICE officers will continue to arrest, detain and remove from the country immigrants without legal status. DHS is currently concentrating immigration enforcement efforts in Chicago, known as “Operation Midway Blitz.”

Other employees within DHS, such as those in Transportation Security Administration, will also be retained during a government shutdown. There are about 58,000 TSA employees that would be exempt and continue to work without pay in airports across the country.&nbsp;&nbsp;

DHS did not respond to States Newsroom’s request for a contingency plan if there is a government shutdown.

Separately, a shutdown would also burden the overwhelmed immigration court system that is housed within the Department of Justice. It would lead to canceling or rescheduling court cases, when there is already a backlog of 3.4 million cases.

The only exceptions are immigration courts that are located within Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detention centers, but most cases would need to be rescheduled. The partial government shutdown that began in December 2018 caused nearly 43,000 court cases to be canceled,&nbsp;<a href="https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/543/" target="_blank">according to a report</a>&nbsp;by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC.

And 28 states have an immigration court, requiring some immigrants to travel hundreds, or thousands, of miles for their appointment.&nbsp;

States that do not have an immigration court include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Will people be able to visit national parks or use public lands during a shutdown?&nbsp;

Probably, but that may be bad for parks’ long-term health.

During the 2018-2019 shutdown, the first Trump administration kept parks open, with skeleton staffs across the country struggling to maintain National Park Service facilities.

Theresa Pierno, the president and CEO of the advocacy group National Parks Conservation Association, said in a Sept. 23 statement the last shutdown devastated areas of some parks.

“Americans watched helplessly as Joshua Trees were cut down, park buildings were vandalized, prehistoric petroglyphs were defaced, trash overflowed leading to wildlife impacts, and human waste piled up,” she wrote. “Visitor safety and irreplaceable natural and cultural resources were put at serious risk. We cannot allow this to happen again.”

The National Park Service’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.doi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2024-03/doi-nps-contingency-plan-2024.pdf" target="_blank">latest contingency plan</a>&nbsp;was published in March 2024, during President Joe Biden’s administration. It calls for at least some closures during a shutdown, though the document says the response will differ from park to park.&nbsp;

Restricting access to parks is difficult due to their physical characteristics, the document said, adding that staffing would generally be maintained at a minimum to allow visitors. However, some areas that are regularly closed could be locked up for the duration of a shutdown.

But that contingency plan is likely to change before Tuesday, spokespeople for the Park Service and the Interior Department, which oversees NPS, said Sept. 25.

“The lapse in funding plans on our website are from 2024,” an email from the NPS office of public affairs said. “They are currently being reviewed and updated.”

Hunters and others seeking to use public lands maintained by Interior’s Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will likely be able to continue to do so, though they may have to make alternative plans if they’d planned to use facilities such as campgrounds.&nbsp;

Land Tawney, the co-chair of the advocacy group American Hunters and Anglers, said campgrounds, toilets and facilities that require staffing would be inaccessible, but most public lands would remain available.

“Those lands are kind of open and they’re just unmanned, I would say, and that’s not really gonna change much,” he said. “If you’re staying in a campground, you’ve got to figure something else out.”

As with national parks, access to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges and other hunting and fishing sites will differ from site to site, Tawney said. The Fish and Wildlife Service doesn’t require permits for hunting on its lands, but access to some refuges is determined by a staff-run lottery drawing. If those drawings can’t be held, access to those sites will be limited, Tawney said.

What happens to the Internal Revenue Service?

How the Internal Revenue Service would operate during a government shutdown remains unclear.&nbsp;

When Congress teetered on letting funding run out in March, the nation’s revenue collection agency released a contingency&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26126431-irs-fy25lapseplan/" target="_blank">plan</a>&nbsp;to continue full operations during the height of tax filing season.&nbsp;

The IRS planned to use funds allocated in the 2022 budget reconciliation law to keep its roughly 95,000 employees processing returns and refunds, answering the phones, and pursuing audits.&nbsp;

Ultimately Congress&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-signs-stopgap-spending-bill-law-following-us-senate-passage" target="_blank">agreed</a>&nbsp;on a stopgap funding bill to avoid a March shutdown, but much has changed since then.

The new tax and spending&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/fourth-july-trump-signs-his-big-beautiful-bill-law" target="_blank">law</a>, signed by Trump on July 4 and often referred to as the “one big beautiful bill,” made major changes to the U.S. tax code.&nbsp;

Additionally, the agency, which processes roughly 180 million income tax returns per year, has lost about a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/JRC26_FullReport.pdf" target="_blank">quarter</a>&nbsp;of its workforce since January. Top leadership has also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/billy-long-ousted-trump-irs-chief-after-less-2-months-office" target="_blank">turned over</a>&nbsp;six times in 2025.

Rachel Snyderman, of the Bipartisan Policy Center, said workforce reductions combined with a string of leadership changes could factor into how the agency would operate during a funding lapse.

“It’s really difficult to understand both what the status of the agency would be if the government were to shut down in less than a week, and also the impacts that a prolonged shutdown could have on taxpayer services and taxpayers at large,” said Snyderman, the think tank’s managing director of economic policy.

Do federal employees get back pay after a shutdown ends?

According to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/furlough-guidance/guidance-for-shutdown-furloughs.pdf" target="_blank">Office of Personnel Management</a>&nbsp;— the executive branch’s chief human resources agency — “after the lapse in appropriations has ended, employees who were furloughed as the result of the lapse will receive retroactive pay for those furlough periods.”&nbsp;

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/24/text/statute?statuteId=45971" target="_blank">Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019</a>&nbsp;requires furloughed government employees to receive back pay as a result of a government shutdown.&nbsp;

That law does not apply to federal contractors, who face uncertainty in getting paid during a shutdown.&nbsp;

What role does Congress have during a shutdown?

The House and Senate must approve a stopgap spending bill or all dozen full-year appropriations bills to end a shutdown, a feat that requires the support of at least some Democrats to get past the upper chamber’s 60-vote legislative filibuster.&nbsp;

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., control their respective chambers’ calendars as well as the floor schedule, so they could keep holding votes on the stopgap bill&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/chance-government-shutdown-rises-us-senate-fails-advance-spending-bill" target="_blank">Democrats have already rejected</a>&nbsp;or try to pass individual bills to alleviate the impacts on certain agencies.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Neither Johnson nor Thune has yet to suggest bipartisan negotiations with Democratic leaders about funding the government. And while they are open to discussions about extending the enhanced tax credits for people who buy their health insurance from the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, they don’t want that decision connected to the funding debate.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Democratic leaders have said repeatedly that Republicans shouldn’t expect them to vote for legislation they had no say in drafting, especially with a health care cliff for millions of Americans coming at the end of the year.&nbsp;

Members of Congress will receive their paychecks regardless of how long a shutdown lasts, but the people who work for them would only receive their salaries after it ends.&nbsp;

Lawmakers must be paid under language in&nbsp;<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-6/" target="_blank">Article I, Section 6, Clause 1</a>&nbsp;of the Constitution as well as the&nbsp;<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-27/" target="_blank">27th Amendment</a>, which bars members of Congress from changing their salaries during the current session.&nbsp;

Lawmakers have discretion to decide which of their staff members continue working during a shutdown and which are furloughed.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Capitol Police, which is tasked with protecting members amid a sharp rise in political violence, said a shutdown “would not affect the security of the Capitol Complex.”&nbsp;

“Our officers, and the professional staff who perform or support emergency functions, would still report to work,” the spokesperson said. “Employees who are not required for emergency functions would be furloughed until funding is available.”

Federal government shutdown is nearing: A guide for what to expect

KANSAS CITY—Two Kansas City men have now been sentenced in federal court for bank robbery.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Rathell Quavon Ross, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 77 months. Ross’s co-defendant Gerrad D. Rivera-Willis was sentenced previously on April 22, 2025, to 72 months in prison for bank robbery, according to the United State's Attorney.

According to court documents, Rivera-Willis and Ross parked a vehicle near a bank in Kansas City, Mo., entered the bank and threatened its employees and demanded money.&nbsp;

 The two defendants left the bank with $2,033 and left in the same vehicle in which they arrived. Law enforcement officers were able to identify the vehicle, which had also been used in a previous bank robbery at a different bank. 

The vehicle was subsequently located at which point Ross and Rivera-Willis both fled on foot. Ross was found hiding under a tarp nearby in possession of the vehicle’s keys. Officers also tracked the path of Rivera-Willis’s flight from the vehicle with a K-9 and recovered the stolen $2,033 in currency from under a cinder block near where Rivera-Willis was arrested. 

Rivera-Willis admitted to taking part in the previous bank robbery and was ordered to pay $8,542 in restitution.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean T. Foley. It was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1759017083106.png" alt="Ross photo from an earlier arrest in Wyandotte County" />
 <figcaption>Ross photo from an earlier arrest in Wyandotte County</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY—Two Kansas City men have now been sentenced in federal court for bank robbery.&nbsp;&nbsp;Rathell Quavon Ross, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 77 months. Ross’s co-defendant Gerrad D. Rivera-Willis was sentenced previously on April 22, 2025, to 72 months in prison for bank robbery, according to the United State's Attorney.According to court documents, Rivera-Willis and Ross parked a vehicle near a bank in Kansas City, Mo., entered the bank and threatened its employees and demanded money.&nbsp; The two defendants left the bank with $2,033 and left in the same vehicle in which they arrived. Law enforcement officers were able to identify the vehicle, which had also been used in a previous bank robbery at a different bank. The vehicle was subsequently located at which point Ross and Rivera-Willis both fled on foot. Ross was found hiding under a tarp nearby in possession of the vehicle’s keys. Officers also tracked the path of Rivera-Willis’s flight from the vehicle with a K-9 and recovered the stolen $2,033 in currency from under a cinder block near where Rivera-Willis was arrested. Rivera-Willis admitted to taking part in the previous bank robbery and was ordered to pay $8,542 in restitution.This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean T. Foley. It was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department.

Prison: Kansas City bank robbery suspect found under a tarp

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has fired agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington that followed the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd">2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers</a>, three people familiar with the matter said Friday.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbi-george-floyd-kash-patel-8d18a1e6a5a36636cc2415fc492b3f52">bureau last spring had reassigned the agents</a>&nbsp;but has since fired them, said the people, who insisted on anonymity to discuss personnel matters with The Associated Press.

The number of FBI employees terminated was not immediately clear, but two people said it was roughly 20.

The photographs at issue showed a group of agents in a taking a knee during one of the demonstrations following the May 2020 killing of Floyd, a death that led to a national reckoning over policing and racial injustice and sparked widespread anger after millions of people saw video of the arrest. The kneeling had angered some in the FBI but was also understood as a possible de-escalation tactic during a period of protests.

The FBI Agents Association confirmed in a statement late Friday that more than a dozen agents had been fired, including military veterans with additional statutory protections, and condemned the move as unlawful. It called on Congress to investigate and said the firings were another indication of FBI Director Kash Patel's disregard for the legal rights of bureau employees.

“As Director Patel has repeatedly stated, nobody is above the law,” the agents association said. “But rather than providing these agents with fair treatment and due process, Patel chose to again violate the law by ignoring these agents’ constitutional and legal rights instead of following the requisite process.”

An FBI spokesman declined to comment Friday.

The firings&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fired-fbi-agents-lawsuit-patel-trump-4431bc93e2783b3b9c658ece82476742">come amid a broader personnel purge</a>&nbsp;at the bureau as Patel works to reshape the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency.

Five agents and top-level executives were known to have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbi-jan-6-patel-driscoll-f4bd75766307f558dfdbdea736e026e8">summarily fired</a>&nbsp;last month in a wave of ousters that current and former officials say has contributed to declining morale.

One of those, Steve Jensen, helped oversee investigations into the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/projects/january-6-cases/">Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol</a>. Another, Brian Driscoll, served as acting FBI director in the early days of the Trump administration and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-justice-department-jan-6-ff003e46ea48c4e8be710d1ba2eb2d02">resisted Justice Department demands</a>&nbsp;to supply the names of agents who investigated Jan. 6.

A third, Chris Meyer, was incorrectly rumored on social media to have participated in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-smith-c66d5ffb7ba86c1b991f95e89bdeba0c">investigation into President Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents</a>&nbsp;at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida,. A fourth, Walter Giardina, participated in high-profile investigations like the one into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/peter-navarro">Trump adviser Peter Navarro.</a>

A lawsuit filed by Jensen, Driscoll and another fired FBI supervisor, Spencer Evans, alleged that Patel communicated that he understood that it was “likely illegal” to fire agents based on cases they worked but was powerless to stop it because the White House and the Justice Department were determined to remove all agents who investigated Trump.

Patel denied at a congressional hearing last week taking orders from the White House on whom to fire and said anyone who has been fired failed to meet the FBI's standards.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1758966939542.png" alt="File FBI Director Kash Patel-photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>File FBI Director Kash Patel-photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has fired agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington that followed the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd">2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers</a>, three people familiar with the matter said Friday.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbi-george-floyd-kash-patel-8d18a1e6a5a36636cc2415fc492b3f52">bureau last spring had reassigned the agents</a>&nbsp;but has since fired them, said the people, who insisted on anonymity to discuss personnel matters with The Associated Press.The number of FBI employees terminated was not immediately clear, but two people said it was roughly 20.The photographs at issue showed a group of agents in a taking a knee during one of the demonstrations following the May 2020 killing of Floyd, a death that led to a national reckoning over policing and racial injustice and sparked widespread anger after millions of people saw video of the arrest. The kneeling had angered some in the FBI but was also understood as a possible de-escalation tactic during a period of protests.The FBI Agents Association confirmed in a statement late Friday that more than a dozen agents had been fired, including military veterans with additional statutory protections, and condemned the move as unlawful. It called on Congress to investigate and said the firings were another indication of FBI Director Kash Patel's disregard for the legal rights of bureau employees.“As Director Patel has repeatedly stated, nobody is above the law,” the agents association said. “But rather than providing these agents with fair treatment and due process, Patel chose to again violate the law by ignoring these agents’ constitutional and legal rights instead of following the requisite process.”An FBI spokesman declined to comment Friday.The firings&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fired-fbi-agents-lawsuit-patel-trump-4431bc93e2783b3b9c658ece82476742">come amid a broader personnel purge</a>&nbsp;at the bureau as Patel works to reshape the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency.Five agents and top-level executives were known to have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbi-jan-6-patel-driscoll-f4bd75766307f558dfdbdea736e026e8">summarily fired</a>&nbsp;last month in a wave of ousters that current and former officials say has contributed to declining morale.One of those, Steve Jensen, helped oversee investigations into the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/projects/january-6-cases/">Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol</a>. Another, Brian Driscoll, served as acting FBI director in the early days of the Trump administration and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-justice-department-jan-6-ff003e46ea48c4e8be710d1ba2eb2d02">resisted Justice Department demands</a>&nbsp;to supply the names of agents who investigated Jan. 6.A third, Chris Meyer, was incorrectly rumored on social media to have participated in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-smith-c66d5ffb7ba86c1b991f95e89bdeba0c">investigation into President Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents</a>&nbsp;at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida,. A fourth, Walter Giardina, participated in high-profile investigations like the one into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/peter-navarro">Trump adviser Peter Navarro.</a>A lawsuit filed by Jensen, Driscoll and another fired FBI supervisor, Spencer Evans, alleged that Patel communicated that he understood that it was “likely illegal” to fire agents based on cases they worked but was powerless to stop it because the White House and the Justice Department were determined to remove all agents who investigated Trump.Patel denied at a congressional hearing last week taking orders from the White House on whom to fire and said anyone who has been fired failed to meet the FBI's standards.

FBI fires agents photographed kneeling during 2020 racial justice protest

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal immigration agents arrested the leader of Iowa’s largest school district Friday in a targeted enforcement action that shocked students and educators.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement called Des Moines Public School Superintendent Ian Roberts a “criminal alien,” saying he was in the country illegally and had no work authorization. Roberts, who is from Guyana in South America, was considered an ICE fugitive because he was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024, the agency said.

ICE said that it targeted Roberts for arrest by initiating a traffic stop on Friday while he was driving in his school-issued vehicle. Roberts identified himself and then fled, the agency said.

Officers later discovered his vehicle abandoned near a wooded area, and the Iowa State Patrol was called to help find Roberts, who was soon taken into ICE custody. It is unclear where Roberts was being held Friday afternoon.

Roberts, who has described himself as a longtime gun owner and hunter, was in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 cash and a fixed blade hunting knife when arrested, ICE said.

“This should be a wake-up call for our communities to the great work that our officers are doing every day to remove public safety threats,” ICE enforcement and removal operations regional official Sam Olson said in a statement. “How this illegal alien was hired without work authorization, a final order of removal, and a prior weapons charge is beyond comprehension and should alarm the parents of that school district.”

Leaders of the Des Moines district said that they were unaware of details of his immigration status and still gathering information about the situation, which they called legally complex. They described Roberts as a dynamic leader who connected with students of all backgrounds.

A longtime leader at school districts across the nation, the 54-year-old began his term as superintendent of Des Moines schools in July 2023. In that position, he oversaw a district that serves more than 30,000 students and nearly 5,000 employees.

Des Moines school board chairwoman Jackie Norris said a state board had granted Roberts a license to serve as superintendent in 2023 and that the district has been unable to verify ICE’s claims about his immigration status. She said that Roberts had been an “integral part of the community” since his arrival.

In a joint statement, the presidents of unions representing teachers and other school employees in Des Moines and across the state said they were shocked by Roberts’ detention. They said he had been a “tremendous advocate for students, families, staff, and the community.”

“His leadership and compassion for all students, regardless of background, identity, or family origin, are a beacon of light in one of the state’s most diverse school districts,” said the statement by Iowa State Education Association President Joshua Brown and Des Moines Education Association President Anne Cross. “It is a dark and unsettling time in our country. This incident has created tremendous fear for DMPS students, families, and staff.”

Phil Roeder, the district’s spokesperson, said he was supposed to meet Roberts at a school event Friday morning but Roberts sent a text saying he could not make it. Roeder said he got a video call from Roberts soon after and watched officials detain him.

Before coming to Iowa, Roberts had previously worked as superintendent of the Millcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania.

Roberts is the son of immigrant parents from Guyana

A biography for Roberts listed on the district’s website says he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana and spent much of his childhood in Brooklyn, New York.

Coppin State University’s website features an alumni profile of Roberts, who graduated from the school in Baltimore in 1998. In it, Roberts said his father immigrated to the United States in the 1980s, and his mother immigrated in the early 2000s.

ICE said that Roberts entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999. The next year, he competed for Guyana in the Olympics in track and field.

Matt Smith, a Des Moines schools official who was appointed Friday to serve as interim superintendent, said members of the community felt “sad, outraged and helpless” after learning of Roberts’ detention.

ICE pointed to a prior weapons charge for Roberts but provided no details.

Court records in Pennsylvania show that Roberts pleaded guilty in January 2022 to a minor infraction for unlawfully possessing a loaded firearm in a vehicle, and was fined $100 plus court costs. The case stemmed from a citation in Erie County issued the prior month by a Pennsylvania Game Commission officer, who stopped Roberts as he was finishing a day of deer hunting on state lands.

Roberts said at the time he was a longtime licensed hunter and gun owner, and that he left his hunting rifle on the seat of his vehicle in plain view to ensure the officer did not feel threatened during their interaction. He said that he was shocked when the officer cited him for doing so, but that he pleaded guilty to avoid any distraction. He questioned whether his dark skin may have played a role in the case.

“I may not appear to be the ‘type of man’ who would enjoy deer season in Pennsylvania, in fact, I am and have been hunting for more than 20 years,” Roberts wrote on a social media post then.

It was the second time in two days that an aggressive action by ICE shocked local officials in Iowa. On Thursday, agents in plain clothes who refused to identify their affiliation tackled a man who was working at a grocery store in downtown Iowa City, pinning him to the floor and handcuffing him as shocked shoppers looked on.

Associated Press writer Ryan J. Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1758925503158.png" alt="This photo provided by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows Ian Roberts in February 2020." />
 <figcaption>This photo provided by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows Ian Roberts in February 2020.</figcaption>
 </figure>DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal immigration agents arrested the leader of Iowa’s largest school district Friday in a targeted enforcement action that shocked students and educators.U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement called Des Moines Public School Superintendent Ian Roberts a “criminal alien,” saying he was in the country illegally and had no work authorization. Roberts, who is from Guyana in South America, was considered an ICE fugitive because he was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024, the agency said.ICE said that it targeted Roberts for arrest by initiating a traffic stop on Friday while he was driving in his school-issued vehicle. Roberts identified himself and then fled, the agency said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1758925645393.png" alt="Roberts&nbsp;Photo from September 26, 2025- image ICE" />
 <figcaption>Roberts&nbsp;Photo from September 26, 2025- image ICE</figcaption>
 </figure>Officers later discovered his vehicle abandoned near a wooded area, and the Iowa State Patrol was called to help find Roberts, who was soon taken into ICE custody. It is unclear where Roberts was being held Friday afternoon.Roberts, who has described himself as a longtime gun owner and hunter, was in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 cash and a fixed blade hunting knife when arrested, ICE said.“This should be a wake-up call for our communities to the great work that our officers are doing every day to remove public safety threats,” ICE enforcement and removal operations regional official Sam Olson said in a statement. “How this illegal alien was hired without work authorization, a final order of removal, and a prior weapons charge is beyond comprehension and should alarm the parents of that school district.”<h2>Roberts is an experienced educator</h2>Leaders of the Des Moines district said that they were unaware of details of his immigration status and still gathering information about the situation, which they called legally complex. They described Roberts as a dynamic leader who connected with students of all backgrounds.A longtime leader at school districts across the nation, the 54-year-old began his term as superintendent of Des Moines schools in July 2023. In that position, he oversaw a district that serves more than 30,000 students and nearly 5,000 employees.Des Moines school board chairwoman Jackie Norris said a state board had granted Roberts a license to serve as superintendent in 2023 and that the district has been unable to verify ICE’s claims about his immigration status. She said that Roberts had been an “integral part of the community” since his arrival.In a joint statement, the presidents of unions representing teachers and other school employees in Des Moines and across the state said they were shocked by Roberts’ detention. They said he had been a “tremendous advocate for students, families, staff, and the community.”“His leadership and compassion for all students, regardless of background, identity, or family origin, are a beacon of light in one of the state’s most diverse school districts,” said the statement by Iowa State Education Association President Joshua Brown and Des Moines Education Association President Anne Cross. “It is a dark and unsettling time in our country. This incident has created tremendous fear for DMPS students, families, and staff.”Phil Roeder, the district’s spokesperson, said he was supposed to meet Roberts at a school event Friday morning but Roberts sent a text saying he could not make it. Roeder said he got a video call from Roberts soon after and watched officials detain him.Before coming to Iowa, Roberts had previously worked as superintendent of the Millcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania.<h2>Roberts is the son of immigrant parents from Guyana</h2>A biography for Roberts listed on the district’s website says he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana and spent much of his childhood in Brooklyn, New York.Coppin State University’s website features an alumni profile of Roberts, who graduated from the school in Baltimore in 1998. In it, Roberts said his father immigrated to the United States in the 1980s, and his mother immigrated in the early 2000s.ICE said that Roberts entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999. The next year, he competed for Guyana in the Olympics in track and field.Matt Smith, a Des Moines schools official who was appointed Friday to serve as interim superintendent, said members of the community felt “sad, outraged and helpless” after learning of Roberts’ detention.<h2>Pleaded guilty to a gun infraction</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1758928112826.png" alt="Photo ICE" />
 <figcaption>Photo ICE</figcaption>
 </figure>ICE pointed to a prior weapons charge for Roberts but provided no details.Court records in Pennsylvania show that Roberts pleaded guilty in January 2022 to a minor infraction for unlawfully possessing a loaded firearm in a vehicle, and was fined $100 plus court costs. The case stemmed from a citation in Erie County issued the prior month by a Pennsylvania Game Commission officer, who stopped Roberts as he was finishing a day of deer hunting on state lands.Roberts said at the time he was a longtime licensed hunter and gun owner, and that he left his hunting rifle on the seat of his vehicle in plain view to ensure the officer did not feel threatened during their interaction. He said that he was shocked when the officer cited him for doing so, but that he pleaded guilty to avoid any distraction. He questioned whether his dark skin may have played a role in the case.“I may not appear to be the ‘type of man’ who would enjoy deer season in Pennsylvania, in fact, I am and have been hunting for more than 20 years,” Roberts wrote on a social media post then.It was the second time in two days that an aggressive action by ICE shocked local officials in Iowa. On Thursday, agents in plain clothes who refused to identify their affiliation tackled a man who was working at a grocery store in downtown Iowa City, pinning him to the floor and handcuffing him as shocked shoppers looked on.___Associated Press writer Ryan J. Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, contributed to this report.

ICE arrests leader of Iowa’s largest public school district

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A driver involved in a&nbsp;&nbsp;fatal crash that killed a Kansas Sheriff's Deputy expected to learn his fate Friday.

For the second week, the sentencing for Kelvin Burgett, 28, Prescott Valley, Arizona scheduled for Judge William Wooley's courtroom was coninued,&nbsp;according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office. 

In July Burgett pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter, according to the district attorneys office.

He was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and&nbsp; driving while suspended, according to the Sedgwick County arrest report.

In October of 2022, a&nbsp;2016 Dodge Charger driven by Sedgwick County Sheriff's Deputy Sidnee Carter, 22, Bel Aire, was southbound on 135th Street at 29th Street north one mile west of Northwest Wichita and Maize responding to a disturbance, according to Sheriff Jeff Easter.

A westbound 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Burgett failed to stop at a stop sign and struck the drivers side of the Dodge Charger, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Deputy Carter was pronounced deceased at the scene. EMS transported Burgett to a local hospital.

Deputy Carter had only worked in the field alone for a week, according to Sheriff Easter. She began field training in the summer of 2022 and completed that training Oct. 1.&nbsp;

Deputy Carter had served the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office for one and a half years in the Sedgwick County Detention Facility before transferring to the Law Enforcement Bureau in February 2022. She graduated the Law Enforcement Academy on July 21, 2022.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1680091672733.png" alt="Burgett photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Burgett photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —A driver involved in a&nbsp;&nbsp;fatal crash that killed a Kansas Sheriff's Deputy expected to learn his fate Friday.For the second week, the sentencing for Kelvin Burgett, 28, Prescott Valley, Arizona scheduled for Judge William Wooley's courtroom was coninued,&nbsp;according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office. In July Burgett pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter, according to the district attorneys office.He was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and&nbsp; driving while suspended, according to the Sedgwick County arrest report.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/10/1665249753989.png" alt="Deputy Sidnee Carter" />
 <figcaption>Deputy Sidnee Carter</figcaption>
 </figure>In October of 2022, a&nbsp;2016 Dodge Charger driven by Sedgwick County Sheriff's Deputy Sidnee Carter, 22, Bel Aire, was southbound on 135th Street at 29th Street north one mile west of Northwest Wichita and Maize responding to a disturbance, according to Sheriff Jeff Easter.A westbound 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Burgett failed to stop at a stop sign and struck the drivers side of the Dodge Charger, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.Deputy Carter was pronounced deceased at the scene. EMS transported Burgett to a local hospital.Deputy Carter had only worked in the field alone for a week, according to Sheriff Easter. She began field training in the summer of 2022 and completed that training Oct. 1.&nbsp;Deputy Carter had served the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office for one and a half years in the Sedgwick County Detention Facility before transferring to the Law Enforcement Bureau in February 2022. She graduated the Law Enforcement Academy on July 21, 2022.&nbsp;

Driver in crash that killed Kan. deputy still waiting to learn his fate

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after a drug bust at a Kansas home.

On September 21, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office Drug Enforcement Task Force conducted a narcotics related search warrant in the 2500 block of SW Western Avenue, according to Deputy Abigail Chrisstian.

During the investigation, illegal narcotics, two firearms, drug paraphernalia and a stolen motorcycle were located.

Scott L. Kemble, 54, of Shawnee, Kan., was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Distribute opiate/opium/narcotic/certain stimulant, Use/possess with intent to use drug paraphernalia, Possession of THC, Possession of stolen property and Possession of paraphernalia with intent to manufacture controlled substance

The Topeka Police Department (TPD) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) assisted with this search warrant.&nbsp; Kemble is no longer in custody, according to online jail records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1758657316065.png" alt="Kemble photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Kemble photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after a drug bust at a Kansas home.On September 21, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office Drug Enforcement Task Force conducted a narcotics related search warrant in the 2500 block of SW Western Avenue, according to Deputy Abigail Chrisstian.During the investigation, illegal narcotics, two firearms, drug paraphernalia and a stolen motorcycle were located.Scott L. Kemble, 54, of Shawnee, Kan., was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Distribute opiate/opium/narcotic/certain stimulant, Use/possess with intent to use drug paraphernalia, Possession of THC, Possession of stolen property and Possession of paraphernalia with intent to manufacture controlled substanceThe Topeka Police Department (TPD) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) assisted with this search warrant.&nbsp; Kemble is no longer in custody, according to online jail records.

Sheriff: Alleged Kan. drug dealer had stolen motorcycle

Recent Booking Activity for the Geary County Detention Center. All persons included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law.

Bonds have been posted. Photos are unavailable.

Alexis Torres, Driving while license cancelled/suspended/revoked, arrested 09/23

Robert Medina Rivera, Probation violation (Two counts), arrested 09/23

Kevin Seldon, Failure to appear, arrested 09/23

Recent Booking Activity for the Geary County Detention Center. All persons included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1758813368794.jpeg" alt="James Underdue, Failure to appear, arrested 09/23" />
 <figcaption>James Underdue, Failure to appear, arrested 09/23</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1758813379264.jpeg" alt="Westley Stewart, Probation violation, arrested 09/25" />
 <figcaption>Westley Stewart, Probation violation, arrested 09/25</figcaption>
 </figure>Bonds have been posted. Photos are unavailable.Alexis Torres, Driving while license cancelled/suspended/revoked, arrested 09/23Robert Medina Rivera, Probation violation (Two counts), arrested 09/23Kevin Seldon, Failure to appear, arrested 09/23Recent Booking Activity for the Geary County Detention Center. All persons included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law.