Kelly, Chambers respond to criticisms levied at city over immigration enforcement

Courtesy: Chattanooga Police Department

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The debate over ICE continued in Chattanooga Tuesday.

This after the Chattanooga Police Department faced criticism over recent ICE detention data released by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.

After a group of anti-ICE activists showed up at the Chattanooga City Council last week to voice their concerns about immigration enforcement in the Chattanooga area,  Chattanooga mayor Tim Kelly and police chief John Chambers took some time on Tuesday to address some of those concerns.

Chief Chambers said that the Chattanooga Police Department is not affiliated with ICE.

He said, “Our mission is to keep our community safe. Our focus is on stopping violent crime. Any additional resources that I have to pull away from that to focus on someone else’s agenda, I am not interested in.”

Chief Chambers says that data recently released misrepresents CPD being involved in immigration enforcement, as he says they only enforce local criminal law.

He presented new data that shows that arrest of Hispanic individuals has gone down over the past two years.

In 2025, out of 7,658 people arrested, 580 were Hispanic, down 7% since January 2024 according to Chattanooga Police’s data.

Because of the lack of a city jail, all arrestees in Chattanooga go to the Hamilton County Jail, which is a part of ICE’s 287 g immigration enforcement program through the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.

Chief Chambers also pointed out a state law that requires law enforcement to communicate with federal agencies if an undocumented immigrant is arrested, saying, “There is no leeway.”

Mayor Kelly was critical of ICE during his comments.

He said, “I’ve been deeply disturbed by the aggressive and violent nature of ICE tactics that we’ve seen in other parts of the country and I never want to see that here. Any locally govern scenario is preferable to that.”

 The mayor adds that the federal government in his view is responsible for the state of the immigration situation.

He said, “We in local government are stuck in the middle until Congress acts to create meaningful immigration reform. The vast, vast majority of immigrants simply need a clear path to legal citizenship so that employers and immigrants don’t have to continue to skirt the law.”

One Chattanooga resident, Diane McCluskey, says that she was reassured by the presentation.

McCluskey said, “I have been concerned myself and believe ICE is rough. I’m not personally affected by them but I am concerned about my neighbors and don’t like to see families be torn apart.”

Chief Chambers says his main goal is to continue building the relationship between the Chattanooga Police Department and the Hispanic community. 

He said, “We are targeting the Hispanic and Latino community. We are targeting them to go out of our way to give them access to the support and resources that they desperately need in a time when others are not.”

Chattanooga Police keep annual reports on their website, and Chief Chambers says the 2025 report should be out by early Spring.