Arizona city officials want border wall’s razor wire removed

NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — Officials in a small Arizona border city passed a resolution Wednesday night condemning the installation of new razor wire that now covers the entirety of a tall border wall through downtown.

The City Council in Nogales, which sits on the border with Nogales, Mexico, wants the federal government to remove all concertina wire installed within the city limits.

Otherwise, Nogales Mayor Arturo Garino said the city will sue.

City officials say Army troops installed more horizontal layers of the wire along the border wall last weekend.

The council’s resolution says the razor wire would harm or kill anyone who scales the wall and “is only found in a war, prison or battle setting” and should not be in downtown Nogales.

In a statement, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the wire was added after a request “for additional support in high-risk urban areas commonly exploited by criminal smuggling organizations.” It did not say who made the request.

The new wire is being added to sections outside city limits, according to a CBP spokeswoman. In locations where there is high pedestrian activity, the concertina wire is limited to only the upper portion of the wall, she wrote.

“Signage in Spanish and English has been put in place warning individuals of these dangers and prohibiting access,” the statement said.

Garino said he was most concerned that children and others could be injured now that it reaches the ground. The downtown area is also residential, and there are homes that stand a few feet from the border fence.

“Aesthetically pleasing — it’s not. It’s very bad. It’s not good for business, it’s not good for what we’re trying to create, a business-friendly community here in Nogales,” Garino told the AP.

Photos published by the Nogales International newspaper show six rows of concertina wire stacked along the approximately two-story wall.