NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Anti-immigrant proposals first adopted in small towns now are gaining ground in metropolitan areas, with Nashville and the fast-growing Atlanta suburb of Cherokee County both set to vote on ordinances making English the official language of government.

A Houston suburb is contemplating a referendum on the issue while small towns elsewhere in Texas, Nevada and Pennsylvania already have ordinances cracking down on immigrants.

But in a city of half a million such as Nashville, a proposal seen as hostile to foreigners faces opposition from more than immigrants' rights groups. Many members of the business community, including the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, oppose the legislation out of fear it will give Music City a bad name, hurting both tourism and investment.

In Nashville, what was once an English-only proposal was watered down to a mostly symbolic measure now called "English First" after city attorneys expressed concern that the original proposal was unconstitutional.

The new proposal makes exceptions for multilingual communications required by federal rules and situations "necessary to protect or promote public health, safety or welfare."

Bill sponsor Eric Crafton said at the second reading last month that the measure would encourage people to learn English.

"We have to take responsibility for our own actions," Mr. Crafton said. "Let's allow them the dignity to take responsibility for their actions."

At that reading the measure garnered the absolute minimum number of votes needed to pass and send it to a third and final vote Tuesday. And since then, activists have been working overtime against it.

The Board of Commissioners in Cherokee County, home to about 184,000 residents northwest of Atlanta, is considering several anti-immigrant proposals besides making English the county's official language. One that would fine landlords who rent to illegal immigrants drew heavy protest by immigrant rights advocates at a public hearing last month.

The measures have cropped up as the United States is experiencing close to record immigration. Growth has been especially rapid in the Southeast, an area that did not attract much foreign immigration prior to 1990.

In Nashville, the foreign-born population increased by 351 percent between 1990 and 2005, said Stephanie Bohon, demographer and assistant professor of sociology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

A majority of that is Hispanic immigration, but at the same time cities such as Nashville and Atlanta have become prime resettlement spots for refugees from Somalia, Bosnia, Sudan and Iraq. Census figures show about 6 percent of Cherokee County's population is foreign born and 7.6 percent is Hispanic.

With the dramatic increase has come a backlash in the form of anti-immigrant talk radio shows, personal attacks on immigrants and state and local legislation aimed at both legal and illegal immigrants.

Among proposals that affect both groups of immigrants are those seeking to decrease the use of languages other than English in all government communications.

Small towns such as Taneytown, Md., and Pahrump, Nev., have passed English-only legislation. A resident is suing the Dallas suburb of Farmer's Branch, Tex., after it passed sweeping anti-immigrant legislation that included an English-only measure last month, and an English-only referendum proposal in the Houston suburb of Friendswood has brought the threat of lawsuits before it has even been placed on the ballot.

"English-only and English-first language proposals have a history of going down in flames," Ms. Bohon said. "They don't hold up well in court."

She points to the example of Norcross, Ga., where an ordinance that required all signs posted to be 75 percent in English was defeated in court.