MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said his jail was already overcrowded.
However, he said the number of undocumented individuals arrested or detained has made a bad situation worse.
According to the sheriff's office, about 70 inmates were forced to sleep on the floor of the jail's common area Thursday night because of overcrowding.
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Snyder said more than 30 undocumented immigrants are currently at the Martin County jail. The sheriff said those inmates are likely to be in custody for a while.
"Of the 30-some-odd undocumented [migrants] that I have, a good percentage of them are there for very violent felonies," Snyder said.
According to the Cato Institute and a report by USA Today, the illegal immigrant conviction rate is only about half of that of native-born Americans.
Snyder maintains that undocumented immigrants are still making the Martin County jail overcrowding worse, and adds that most immigrants housed in his jail are arriving through the southern border.
The sheriff recently returned from Arizona where he visited the southern border.