Several Chattanooga City Council members broke out in smiles as Amalia Jacinto Ramirez presented a routine rezoning request to start her own business — all in Spanish.
She used a translator to present her plan, and the council unanimously approved her request.
Minutes later, several residents lined up to ask the city to oppose federal immigration enforcement efforts in Chattanooga. Those efforts have primarily affected the city’s Hispanic population.
Over 100 people made the same request last week at a meeting of the Hamilton County Commission, while several hundred more protested in Signal Mountain and East Ridge.
As a federal budget debate ramps up about Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding, local protesters are calling for Hamilton County to end its arrangement with the federal government authorizing trained local officers to interrogate, detain and transport people held at the county jail that they believe to be unauthorized immigrants.