Analyzing the Condition of Nogales, Arizona: Alternatives to Combat Lethal Wires

This report analyzes the condition of Nogales, Arizona, due to lethal wires built there. It suggests alternatives to combat the situation, including deploying security forces in the area. The report emphasizes the importance of ensuring the safety of citizens and preventing illegal infiltration.

Running head: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
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Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to analyze the condition of Nogales, Arizona, as a result of the
lethal wires which have been built there. Citizens have let their outcry known to the
government, which have been ignored for most of the time. The report aims at finding
alternatives to combat the situation, and summarizes that security forces should be deployed
in the area for the safety of the citizens, alongside preventing illegal infiltration.

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Table of Contents
1. Narrative Summary................................................................................................................3
Case summary........................................................................................................................3
Key actors and roles...............................................................................................................4
Central problems....................................................................................................................4
2. Key Issues and Application of Concepts...............................................................................5
Alternatives for Action...............................................................................................................6
Alternative 1...........................................................................................................................6
Alternative 2...........................................................................................................................7
Alternative 3...........................................................................................................................7
Selection of Recommended Alternative.....................................................................................8
Method...................................................................................................................................9
Criteria....................................................................................................................................9
Recommendation..................................................................................................................10
Implementation........................................................................................................................10
Plan.......................................................................................................................................10
Obstacles..............................................................................................................................10
Evaluation............................................................................................................................11

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1. Narrative Summary
Case summary
The small border city of Nogales in Arizona has been subject to a lot of controversies
in recent times. The US president Donald Trump’s decision to build a big wall along the
border between Mexico and the US has led to lethal razor wired walls being built there
(Vallet, 2016). This has led to an outcry by the locales of the area to bring the wall down. The
walls are made up of concertina wires, which could prove to be brutal for any individual who
comes in contact with the structure. While the need for the walls to be taken down gets higher
with each passing day, talks between the US president and the Nogales mayor Arturo Garino
continue to take place.
The aim of the locales residing in the area is to do anything to take the walls down at
any cost. They are of the opinion that the walls pose safety threats to their livelihoods, and
that it is injustice to them as the wires continue to intimidate them for no reason. The desired
outcome of this issue is obviously justice being served to the locales of Arizona, in a way that
they do not have to be bothered by the lethal wires (Bristow, 2017). These wires could be a
life threatening weapon to anyone who comes into contact with the barbed wires, potentially
slicing the skin of any innocent, very possibly just by accident. Therefore, it should be noted
that external politics of the state should not be interfering with the personal rights and
liberties of the citizens residing in the nation, in any way. The best possible outcome that
would be justice to the locales of the city of Nogales would be if the Mayor of the city and
the president of the country come to an agreement and the wires are taken down, or at least
security forces are deployed in the region to ensure that locales are protected from the lethal
wires, since even that is not a grant as of now.

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Key actors and roles
The main key actor in this case is the president of USA, Donald Trump. He is the one
who has initiated the building of the walls which the locales of Nogales condemn. His role in
this context is also of an aggressor. This is because he has been motivated by protecting his
nation against the intruders of Mexico, and hence, has taken a stern and radical action which
would prevent the inflow of these illegal immigrants into the territory of the US
(Dombrowski & Reich, 2017).
Another key actor in this respect is the mayor of the city of Nogales, Arturo Garino.
He is motivated by the interests of the locales of Nogales, and claims that building such a
lethal wall across a city which is fairly populated and busy, is an outrageous idea (Casal et
al., 2017).
While the president’s agenda is to protect the country from illegal immigration and
other issues related to it, the mayor’s agenda is to convince the president to take the walls
down, for the sake of the safety of the people of Nogales.
Central problems
The main problem which is associated with the case is the safety issue which the
people of the locality have been complaining of in the recent times. The newly built walls
along the borders have not only terrorized the citizens of the country, but has also posed a
threat to their liberty. Children’s school buses pass by the area, and a lot of innocent children
just simply play outdoors in the area. Coming into contact with the concertina wires would
mean inevitably succumbing to the injuries for those innocent souls. Furthermore, the locales
themselves have been pleading with the government to change their minds and take the walls
down. As a democratic nation, the government must be listening to them, and safeguard the

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interests and safety of the people. Protecting the country at the cost of risking the lives of the
innocents is in no way a constructive solution.
2. Key Issues and Application of Concepts
The key issues, as already discussed in the previous section, are as follows:
 The liberty of the citizens are being threatened (Steiner, 2017) as a result of the
intimidating walls which have been built in order to protect the area from
indiscriminate infiltration.
 USA, although being a democratic country, have not been considering the interests
and desires of the citizens of the nation.
 Innocent lives, like those of the children residing or playing in the area, or simply just
coming back from school, are in a constant danger as a result of the presence of these
lethal wires.
 The government have not even deployed security forces to protect the locales of the
area, as a preventive measure of an accident taking place.
In an attempt to solve the existing issue, this report would be looking into the concept of
“Utilitarian Approach”. This concept states that public good and public interest matters
the most in any organization. To be more specific, it states that the most important thing
to consider in any situation as an administrator of the public, is common good and
happiness of the individuals involved in the particular situation which is the central
problem in the administration (Bauer, 2018). Furthermore, the concept deliberately
overlooks the notion of a greater good or the values and interests of the entire community,
stating that it is only the interests of the people directly involved or affected in a particular
case that matters, and not of the ones who are indirectly involved in it. The dominant
perspective hence, in this perspective is individualistic (Mitchell et al., 2016).

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This concept can be applied to the situation which the report is dealing with, in a way
that lessens or eliminates the impact of the consequences which the locales are
undergoing at the moment, pertaining to the building of the walls along the borders of the
city of Nogales. This is by considering that the people who are directly involved in this
scenario, are the Nogales locales, who have been deprived of their basic security and
happiness as a result of the brutal walls being built there. According to the concept of the
utilitarian approach, any greater good should be sacrificed since the people who are in the
center of attraction as a result of the project, are USA’s own citizens residing in the city
of Nogales. Hence, president Trump’s visions of ensuring a greater good by building a
lethal wall made of concertina wires should be considered for the sake of the happiness,
interests and safety of the people of the Nogales, who are being directly affected by the
processes of state security and common good. This is how applying the concept would
mean sense in the system, and would ensure that the walls in the Nogales region are either
taken down, or security forces are deployed in the region in order to restore the liberty of
the people of the city of Nogales, thereby eliminating all of the problems which have been
discussed earlier.
Alternatives for Action
Alternative 1
The first alternative should be that the mayor of the city and the president of the
country get into a diplomatic talk, and come to a conclusion that the border walls are indeed
dangerous for the citizens of the city. Hence, it should be taken down, or get lifted to an
altitude, which would ensure that the people no more have to be afraid of the walls and the
lives and safety of the innocent children are not at stake. Therefore, the problem would be
solved.

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The approach to be adopted here is the “legal approach” in public administration. This
approach emphasizes on law and sees the government as an alternative to the court, who are
bound to be inclined towards legal aspects in the administration processes and the
consequences that might be coming along with it (Rosenbloom, 2016). Legal aspects in this
case refers to the fundamental rights and liberties of the innocent people of the Nogales, who
deserve safety. By going along with the decision to keep the walls, this legal aspect would be
highly violated, and the government would not be successful in doing its job as an effective
administrator of the public (Perry & Christensen, 2015). A higher purpose in this approach is
to consider the higher value in terms of legalities, which in this case is the right to safety of
the people of the Nogales, which also happens to be an international law.
Alternative 2
The second alternative to consider would be to hold a nation-wide, or at least a local
protest at Nogales, the media coverage of which would convey the message to the
government of the United States of America. Since in a democratic country, people cannot be
shunned for raising their own voices as long as they are peaceful in nature and do not adopt
violent ways, the government is likely to listen, since refusing to do so would be violating
international laws of democracy.
The approach to be adopted here is the concept of the “citizenship approach”, which
states that in a democracy, active citizenship plays a major part in keeping the administration
on track (Jekel, Gryl & Schulze, 2015). In this case, it implies that collective outcry and
active participation of the citizens, rather than just being passive recipients of the
administration is an essential to ensure that the democracy in the country is retained or
restored. Vigorous citizenry is a critical aspect in making the administration aware that they
are not devoid of senses, and possess enough information and analytical sense to debunk that

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whatever the administration is doing, by overlooking the interests of the locales of the area, is
not welcome in the country.
Alternative 3
The third alternative is for the government of the United States of America to deploy
security forces to consolidate the locales of the city of Nogales that their security and safety is
well intact and that the lethal wires do not pose a threat to the safety of the innocents. It
should be noted that these special forces should be aiming at solely protecting the safety of
the citizens of the city of Nogales, and not patrolling infiltration. That would create a feeling
in the community that their locality has turned into a military zone, and would only add up to
their miseries, instead of listening to their outcries and making lives better for them.
The perspective to be applied here is the “service providing perspective”. In this
perspective, the citizens are viewed as mere customers of the administration in a democracy,
since they given the government the power which they possess (Greer, Lusch & Vargo,
2016), through elections and taxes. The philosophy is that the citizens are the customers of
the administration, and their wants and needs must be met on the highest priority (Dahl,
2018). This makes sense because in a democracy, a government is bound to be working
towards serving the interests of the people, no matter how small a community that might be,
instead of making lives tougher for them. Hence, the service providing perspective gives way
to an effective alternative.
Selection of Recommended Alternative
Before jumping on to the process of analyzing which of the alternatives would be the
best adopt, it is important to consider once again the central problem in the situation, which in
this case, is the assurance of safety of the people of Nogales getting violated. it is important
to note here is that the innocent children are the most potentially vulnerable victims of the

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lethal walls. The alternatives which could be adopted in order to eliminate the issues, involve
taking the wall down, holding protests, and deploying security forces along the border to
protect the citizens. In this context, and considering the issues, deploying security forces
along the border is the way to go. However, limitations persist since the presence of security
forces could mean that the people of the city of Nogales would be constantly under the
impression that the area has turned into a militarized one, and make them feel uncomfortable,
thus adding to the problems rather than making things easier.
Method
The method of deciding on the alternative is consensus. Everybody should be on one
page, and should not be deviating in terms of opinions. There should be a high correlation in
the opinions of the mayor of the town (Hernes & Sobieska-Karpińska, 2016), the president of
the USA, and also the voices of the people of Nogales.
Criteria
There are three main criteria which have to be considered, based on which, an
alternative is to be chosen. The three criteria are:
 Security of the people directly affected.
 Opinion of the nation as a whole.
 Keeping infiltrators away.
Opinion of the state is of critical importance, since the government indeed does not exist
to protect the interests of one community, but the nation as a whole (Lippman, 2017).
Therefore, ensuring security to the nation as a whole is of critical importance.
Security of the locales too are important since they are the ones being directly affected by
the project, and a democracy must ensure that it listens to the voices of the people’s interests.

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Keeping illegal migration on check is critical to the security and sovereignty of the nation
(Schuck, 2018). A government’s job is to ensure that it does good to the country and ensures
it security. Therefore, it is a criteria that must be considered.
Recommendation
According to the method and the criteria discussed above, the best alternative to
choose would be to deploy security forces along the border to ensure the safety of the locales
living in Nogales. By this alternative, the locales would be free of the security threats which
they have been living with, and also the opinion of the state, which would obviously be in the
favor of the citizens of the nation as a whole, which is to prevent infiltrators from
immigrating into the country illegally. Also, the decision would be made by both the mayor
of the town and the president of the state, which would comply with the method of consensus
as discussed earlier.
Implementation
The central problem of the issue is the safety of the locales as a result if the lethal
wires, and the alternative chosen is to deploy security forces to protect the locales’ safety.
Plan
The plan is to make sure that the government spends a considerable expenditure on
deploying additional security forces, or just transfer some of it to the region to serve the
purpose. The objective should be to make the people of the Nogales feel safe in their own
locality, and stress should be given on making it clear to the force that they appear to be
protective rather than intimidating to the people of the region, and maintain the harmony of
the region at the same time.

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Obstacles
The only obstacle in this would be the expenditure required to additionally deploy
troops across a lengthy stretch, just as a preventive measure (Kollias, 2017). Furthermore,
people might still feel intimidated by the nature of the place, constantly being looked after by
the security forces (Conrad et al., 2018).
Evaluation
The plan to evaluate should be easy, as regular media coverage of the area, and vox-
pops of the region would be regularly recorded to update the government (Beckers, Walgrave
& Van den Bulck, 2018) about the developing feelings about the lethal walls in the minds of
the people. Security of the state does not stand violated according to the alternative chosen in
the report, and a regular media coverage, and a survey of the locality, assessing the
satisfaction levels of the people of Nogales should be analyzed qualitatively in order to reach
an evaluation.

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