SPECIAL REPORT: Collier sheriff, feds try to curb immigrant jail population
By Ryan Mills

Saturday, June 30, 2007

They’re in there, but nobody knows for sure who they are.

A snapshot of the Collier County jail population taken in January showed that as many as a quarter of the jail’s 1,150 inmates are self-admitted illegal immigrants. Some staff members believe the actual number could be closer to 33 to 35 percent.

“Obviously it makes it easier if they say ‘I’m here illegally,’â€