Washington, D.C. - After voting in support of the President’s national emergency declaration to build a wall at our southern border, U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) issued the following statement:

“In 2014, when tens of thousands of unaccompanied children crossed our country’s southern border, President Obama called that a national crisis. Yet today, nearly 240,000 people have illegally crossed our southern border in the past four months alone and Democrats want to call that business as usual. The United States has had to provide medical care, food, housing, and other essential services for each of these individuals. Meanwhile, drugs have poured across the border at double the rate from last year. There is no doubt, this is a national emergency. It has completely overwhelmed our social services, legal services, health care services and law enforcement services along our southern border and it has cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. The United States is a nation of laws focused on protecting our people. Those who wish to immigrate here must do so legally and we welcome them. We need to address this emergency."