I don’t even know how this is possible.
According to new reports, Cristhian Bahena Rivera has not only been in the country illegally for 4-7 years, but passed an e-verify and was working at a farm for the past four years:
ABC NEWS – Yarrabee Farms, the Iowa farm that employed the suspect charged with killing Mollie Tibbetts, defended its vetting of Cristhian Bahena Rivera late Tuesday. The farm says Rivera passed the government’s background check and it had no idea he was an undocumented immigrant.
Rivera, who the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said Tuesday afternoon is responsible for the 20-year-old University of Iowa student’s death last month, was called an “employee in good standing.”
“This individual has worked at our farms for four years, was vetted through the government’s E-Verify system, and was an employee in good standing,” Yarrabee Farms said in the statement. “On Monday, the authorities visited our farm and talked to our employees. We have cooperated fully with their investigation.”
E-Verify is an online system run by the U.S. government for employers to check on the eligibility status of its workers. The system checks records from the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security, which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) falls under, to make sure an employee is legally allowed to work.
Rivera has worked at the farm for four years, the company said.
Yarrabee Farms is owned by Craig Lang, the former president of the Iowa Farm Bureau and an active member of the Republican Party in the state.
It is unclear how Rivera passed the E-Verify system. Rivera is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said, and a detainer was issued for him on Tuesday.
The Department of Homeland Security said Rivera has been in the country “between 4 and 7 years.”
So it sounds like he entered the country between 2011-2014. I’ll let you know when we have more details on his illegal entry.
UPDATE: According to law enforcement, via WAPO, Rivera used a stolen id to pass e-verify:
Rivera was in the country illegally and appears to have used a stolen identification card to satisfy a federal immigration background check by his employer through the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify system, a law enforcement official told The Washington Post.
You can read more on what they have about Rivera and the Tibbitts’ murder here.