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This US border city could condemn the use of razor wire along the border wall

"That wire is lethal, and I really don't know what they're thinking by putting it all the way down to the ground," Nogales Mayor Arturo Garino said Monday.
Credit: AP
In this Monday, Feb. 4, 2019 photo, a school bus rolls past the concertina wire-covered fence at East International and Nelson Streets in downtown Nogales, Ariz. The small Arizona border city is fighting back against the installation of razor fencing that now covers the entirety of a tall border fence along the city's downtown area. The city of Nogales, which sits on the border with Nogales, Mexico, is contemplating a proclamation Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, condemning the use of concertina wire in its town. (Jonathan Clark/Nogales International via AP)

NOGALES, Ariz. — Officials in a small Arizona border city are decrying 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, is set to consider a proclamation Wednesday night condemning the use of concertina wire.

The vote comes after reports that U.S. military troops installed more horizontal layers of the wire along the downtown border fence over the weekend, and a day after President Donald Trump highlighted border security in his State of the Union address.

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

Nogales, a city of about 20,000 people, is a fraction of the size of the Mexican city, but its economy is largely reliant on Mexican shoppers and cross-border trade. Illegal crossings in that area have dropped steeply in the past several years.

READ MORE: Nogales has a border wall, but smugglers are just digging tunnels under it

Mayor Arturo Garino told the paper that he asked U.S. Sen. Martha McSally to help the city have the wire removed during a visit to the border last month.

"That wire is lethal, and I really don't know what they're thinking by putting it all the way down to the ground," he said Monday.

Credit: AP
In this Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019 photo, U.S. Army troops place additional concertina wire to the border fence on a hillside above Nelson Street in downtown Nogales, Ariz. Nogales, Mexico is seen at right. The small Arizona border city is fighting back against the installation of razor fencing that now covers the entirety of a tall border fence along the city's downtown area. The city of Nogales, which sits on the border with Nogales, Mexico, is contemplating a proclamation Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, condemning the use of concertina wire in its town. (Jonathan Clark/Nogales International via AP)

Neither Garino nor a spokeswoman for McSally returned messages from The Associated Press. U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Defense also did not respond to inquiries about why additional wire was installed over the weekend.

City leaders were critical of military exercises at the border during the holiday season, saying they believed it scared shoppers during one of the busiest times of the year.

The proclamation the city council is scheduled to vote on says concertina wire is typically something found in battlefields, and that placing it along the entirety of the border fence is "not only irresponsible but inhuman."

In a tweet, U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat, called the additional wire a stunt by the Trump administration, which he said is "trying to create the perception of rampant lawlessness and crime."

Trump ordered troops deployed to border last year, and the Pentagon said Sunday it was sending an additional 3,750 to install 150 miles of concertina wire. There are now about 4,350 active-duty troops on the border.

Information released by the federal government shows the number of arrests by the Border Patrol is the lowest since the early 1970s, while the number of agents has more than doubled.

Over 1.6 million arrests were made by just about 9,200 agents nationwide in the 2000. But those figures tapered off as the government dramatically increased staffing and resources like more surveillance technology and tall, steel fencing.

By last fiscal year, about 19,000 Border Patrol agents made 310,000 arrests.

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