An Arizona border town is ticked off that the Army put 'inhuman' razor wire across its downtown

Concertina wire through Nogales, Arizona
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/AP)

While some communities might be thrilled with the U.S. Army draping dangerous, unsightly, and what they view as unnecessary concertina wire throughout town, the residents of Nogales, Arizona, are not. On Wednesday night, the Nogales City Council passed a resolution condemning the installation of rows of razor wire along the border fence downtown as "not only irresponsible but inhuman," arguing that such wire "is only found in a war, prison, or battle setting," and asking the federal government to remove all concertina wire from within city limits. If not, Mayor Arturo Garino says, Nogales will sue.

Nogales, a town of 20,000, is reliant on trade with its much larger sister city of Nogales, Mexico, right across the border. "That wire is lethal, and I really don’t know what they’re thinking by putting it all the way down to the ground," Garino told Nogales International on Monday. On Wednesday, he told The Associated Press: "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."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.