NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) - The Latest on Nogales City Council condemning used of new razor wire on border wall (all times local):
7:20 p.m.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say the new horizontal layers of razor wire were added to the border wall in Nogales, Arizona at a request for additional support. They did not say who made the request.
In a statement Wednesday night, the CBP says the request was for “high-risk urban areas commonly exploited by criminal smuggling organizations.”
The CBP response came quickly after the Nogales City Council passed a resolution condemning the use of new razor wire that now covers the entirety of a tall border wall through downtown.
The council is calling on the federal government to remove all concertina wire installed within the city limits. Otherwise, Nogales Mayor Arturo Garino says it will result in a lawsuit.
The CBP says the new wires are on U.S. government property.
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6:45 p.m.
Elected officials in a small Arizona border city have passed a resolution condemning the use of new razor wire that now covers the entirety of a tall border wall through downtown.
The Nogales City Council’s resolution Wednesday night calls on the federal government to remove all concertina wire installed within the city limits.
Otherwise, Nogales Mayor Arturo Garino says it will result in a lawsuit.
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 shouldn’t be in downtown Nogales.
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10:36 a.m.
The Nogales City Council is decrying the installation of new razor fencing that now covers a border fence through downtown.
The city sits on the border with Nogales, Mexico, and is contemplating a proclamation Wednesday night condemning the use of concertina wire.
The vote comes after U.S. military troops installed additional layers of wire along the fence over the weekend, and the day after President Donald Trump highlighted border security in his State of the Union address.
Photos published by the Nogales International newspaper show rows of concertina wire stacked along the approximately two-story wall.
Nogales, a city of about 20,000 people, is largely reliant on Mexican shoppers and cross-border trade. Illegal crossings in that area have dropped steeply in recent years.
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