DES MOINES, Iowa — The public had the chance Thursday evening to ask former DMPS Superintendent Ian Roberts’ legal counsel questions about his ICE detainment during a townhall meeting at Corinthian Baptist Church.

Brandon Brown, a lawyer at Parrish Kruidenier Law Firm who is working on Roberts’ case, told attendees that some questions would need to go unanswered for the time being.

“We want to try to give you all information that we can. But you have to remember, because we’re in pending litigation and there are so many threats of litigation, it can be limited. So I know you all are going to have a lot of questions. I’m not sure we’re going to have a lot of answers. But what we can do is we can just promise you effort” Brown said.

Brown was able to confirm that the law firm has been able to keep contact with Roberts and that he has been treated well by law enforcement.

“I’m sure a lot of people are concerned about how Dr. Roberts is doing right now. And, and I can tell you, we’ve been talking with him when he was up in county jail enroute to Council Bluffs. When he got there, we talked to him. The staff have been extremely professional. The marshals, the correctional staff, they appreciate the magnitude of what’s going on. And Dr. Roberts is getting the utmost respect,” Brown said.

One townhall attendee asked if Parrish and Kruidenier could guarantee that Roberts will not be deported.

Alfredo Parrish, the founder of Parrish Kruidenier Law Firm who is working on Roberts’ case, said that he could not guarantee Roberts won’t be deported.

“Immigration court under the current administration is extremely difficult. We don’t know day to day. Actually, we made a couple of calls and they were delaying and getting him to the phone. We thought perhaps he was out of the country at that point, but let me share this with you. We have been in touch with all the entities who have the power to remove him from the country. We have filed, as Brandon just said, all of the pertinent documents. But can we guarantee you, based on what we know and how the optics are, will he be there tomorrow? We cannot guarantee it,” Parrish said.

Parrish said he plans to meet with Roberts Friday morning at 8 a.m.