The Border & Illegal Aliens, And What We Are Doing About It.

[Bullheaded Texan]

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said.

“We are not going to let this country be invaded!

We will not be stampeded!

We will not capitulate to lawlessness!

This is NOT business as usual.

This is the Trump era!," the Attorney General said.
 

[Bullheaded Texan]

Texas Attorney General Announces Voter Fraud Alert: 58,000 Non-Citizens Illegally Voted in Texas Elections.

 1/25/19 Cristina Laila

On Friday, Texas Secretary of State David Whitley issued an advisory on voter registration list maintenance activity and the analysis revealed tens of thousands of non-citizens are not only registered to vote, but they are voting in elections. 

 The Texas Secretary of State announced Friday: 95,000 individuals identified by DPS as non-U.S. citizens have a matching voter registration record in Texas, approximately 58,000 of whom have voted in one or more Texas elections.

 

ELECTION CODE

TITLE 6. CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS

CHAPTER 64. VOTING PROCEDURES

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986.

Sec. 64.012. ILLEGAL VOTING. (a) A person commits an offense if the person:

(1) votes or attempts to vote in an election in which the person knows the person is not eligible to vote;

(2) knowingly votes or attempts to vote more than once in an election;

(3) knowingly votes or attempts to vote a ballot belonging to another person, or by impersonating another person; or

(4) knowingly marks or attempts to mark any portion of another person's ballot without the consent of that person, or without specific direction from that person how to mark the ballot.

(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second degree unless the person is convicted of an attempt. In that case, the offense is a state jail felony.

[Bullheaded Texan]

Pentagon Officials Tour Border Wall To Determine Stability Of Area.

 3 days ago by David Aaro  

Top defense officials toured sections of the U.S.-Mexico border Saturday to analyze if reinforcement efforts are needed to block drug smuggling and other illegal activity, as the Pentagon weighs diverting billions of dollars for President Trump’s border wall.

 Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, accompanied by the Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. Joseph Dunford, was visiting a border site near El Paso, Texas, called Monument Site 3. Shanahan and Dunford got an up-close look at U.S. Border Patrol vehicles used for surveillance. The Department of Homeland Security has requested Pentagon help in operating about 150 of the vehicle-mounted surveillance cameras, which can see as far as eight miles. Shanahan also tried his hand at firing a couple of Border Patrol weapons, including one that uses plastic bullets.

 Later, the officials planned to fly over two border control sites farther west. These sites are on a list of high-priority projects DHS submitted to Shanahan on Friday to support its request for money to pay for construction of roads, replacement of vehicle barriers and dilapidated pedestrian fencing, and installation of lighting. The pedestrian fencing would include detection systems that could alert border patrol agents when someone is attempting to damage or break through the fencing. The money would come from the Pentagon’s drug interdiction programs.

 One such project proposed by DHS, dubbed “El Paso Project 1,” includes segments of border west of El Paso, in Luna and Dona Ana counties, New Mexico. This is among areas DHS cites as known drug smuggling corridors used by Mexican cartels. Shanahan and Dunford were to fly over this site in a V-22 Osprey aircraft to get an aerial view of the site and to see where DHS resources are inadequate.

 These projects are separate from, but related to, those which Shanahan is expected to pay for by diverting money that Congress appropriated for military construction projects. This could total as much as $3.6 billion, although Shanahan has not yet determined that the diversion is justified. His visit Saturday was meant to help him decide whether to approve such spending.

 DHS has yet to provide the details that Shanahan says he needs before making his decision on the repurposing of military construction funds. He has said he is likely to provide the full $3.6 billion the White House is expecting, plus $2.5 billion from the drug interdiction program. Trump authorized the use of these military funds when he declared a national emergency to build a wall.

 Wall construction would be done under contracts managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, whose commander, Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, accompanied Shanahan on Saturday. The Corps has built 126 miles of border wall in the last two years — mostly replacement barriers, Semonite told reporters.

 Democrats in Congress, meanwhile, are seeking to block Trump’s emergency declaration to stop the diversion of Pentagon funds for his border wall. The House is to vote Tuesday on a resolution to block Trump.

 There are about 2,900 active-duty troops and about 2,100 National Guard troops on the border in support of Customs and Border Protection. That combined total of 5,000 is expected to grow to 6,000 by March 1 as the Pentagon provides additional support.

 The border mission for active-duty forces began on Oct. 30, 2018 and has since been extended to Sept. 30.

[Bullheaded Texan]

Trump Throws a Major Wrench in Democrats’ Plan To Block Emergency Declaration.

  3 days ago Jack Davis

President Donald Trump said that if a Democrat-backed resolution to block his national emergency passes through Congress, he will veto it.

 Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at America’s southern border is intended to allow the construction of a long-promised border wall to move forward.

 House Democrats introduced a resolution opposing the declaration, House Speaker nancy pukelosi announced Friday.

 “The president’s act is lawless,” pukelosi told reporters, according to CNN. “It does violence to our Constitution and therefore to our democracy. His declaration strikes at the heart of our Founders’ concept of America, which demands separation of powers.”

 Reporters asked Trump about Democrats’ resolution in the Oval Office on Friday.

“Will I veto it? 100%. 100%!,” Trump said. “And I don’t think it survives a veto. We have too many smart people that want border security, so I can’t imagine if it survives a veto, but I will veto it. Yes.”

Trump said he believes Republicans in Congress will support his declaration.

“Oh, I think they’ll stick,” the president said.

 South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News on Friday that some Republicans will defect in the GOP-controlled Senate. Graham estimated that there will be “a handful” of Republicans supporting the Democrats, but that the Democrats would not have the votes to override a presidential veto.

 At least one high-profile Republican in the House has already joined the anti-emergency bandwagon by signing on to the resolution as a co-sponsor, The Hill reported.

 Before a Friday meeting with China’s Vice Premier Liu He, Trump reaffirmed his position that the wall is critical for America’s security.

 “Everybody knows we need border security. We need a wall. I think it’s a very bad subject for the Democrats,” he said. “We’ve apprehended more people than we have in many, many years — apprehended meaning we’ve gotten. With a wall, we wouldn’t even have to apprehend them, if we had the proper structures. It’s costing us a lot of money with the military there. We have a lot of military there.”

 The president praised law enforcement for doing an “incredible job at the border,” but said a wall would make their job significantly less difficult.

“ We have caravans heading up and we’re able to head out the caravans. We’ve done a great job, but if we had the wall, it would be much easier and, frankly, it would be a job that would be perfecto and it would cost actually, ultimately a lot less money.”

[Bullheaded Texan]

ICE: Woman Who Assaulted MAGA Hat Man Was in U.S. Illegally.

 2/26/19 Katherine Rodrigues

A Brazilian national arrested for allegedly assaulting a man wearing a “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hat was in the U.S. illegally, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said.

 ICE agents took Rosiane Santos, 41, into custody on Tuesday after finding out she was residing in the U.S. illegally, and she is now facing deportation, Boston 25 News reported.

 “Deportation officers with ICE’s Fugitive Operations Team arrested Rosie Santos, an unlawfully present citizen of Brazil,” ICE said in a statement. “Santos is facing local charges for assault and other offenses. She is presently in ICE custody and has been entered into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts.”

 Santos, who resided in Falmouth, Massachusetts, had been arrested by police several days earlier on charges of assault, battery, and disorderly conduct for allegedly harassing and assaulting a 23-year-old man wearing the the Trump campaign’s signature red MAGA cap. 

 The victim, Bryton Turner, 23, told authorities Santos attacked him unprovoked because of his MAGA hat.

A video of the incident showed Santos approach Turner from behind before swatting his hat off his head. Turner then whipped out his phone and began recording her.

“That’s the problem — the problem with Americans these days, people are just ignorant,” Turner said in the video. 

 The Brazilian national, who pleaded not guilty to the charges against her at a Wednesday court hearing before the judge released her on her own recognizance, claimed she was actually “the victim” of the incident because she felt “discriminated” against.

 

[Bullheaded Texan]

Fiat Chrysler to Reopen Idled Detroit Plant, Bring 6.5K U.S. Jobs Back to Michigan.

 2/23/19 John Binder

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will reopen an idled Detroit engine plant, invest billions into five existing Michigan plants, and create about 6,500 U.S. auto jobs in a move reflecting President Trump’s economic nationalist agenda.

The Plans for Michigan:

 In an announcement Tuesday, Fiat Chrysler executives revealed their plans to reopen the Mack Avenue II engine plant in Detroit by investing $1.6 billion into the site to convert it into a manufacturing plant for the company’s Jeep Grand Cherokee and a new three-row full size Jeep SUV. The investment to reopen the plant — which was shuttered nearly seven years ago leaving hundreds of American workers laid off — will create 3,850 U.S. jobs.

 

The total $4.5 billion investment by Fiat Chrysler will mean a total of about 6,500 new U.S. jobs at its give existing Michigan plants with plans to build a new assembly plant in the city limits of Detroit, marking the first time a new plant will be built in the city in almost three decades.

“The reborn Mack facility would be the first new assembly plant to be built in the city of Detroit in nearly three decades,” Fiat Chrysler executives said in a statement. “Jefferson North was the last new assembly plant built in the city in 1991. When complete, Mack would join Jefferson North as the only automotive assembly plants to be located completely within the city limits of Detroit.”

The investment includes a $900 million investment to modernize the Jefferson North assembly plant. The investment will mean 1,100 new U.S. jobs at the plant to continue production of the Dodge Durango and the next generation Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Additionally, Fiat Chrysler will invest $1.5 billion into its Warren, Michigan, truck assembly plant for production of the new Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, along with continued production of the Ram 1500 Classic. This investment amounts to 1,400 new jobs at the Warren plant.

All three plants, the Mack Avenue Engine Complex, Jefferson North, and the Warren plant will be equipped to produce plug-in hybrid versions of the Jeep models made at each facility and are expected to have the capacity to produce fully battery electric cars in the future, executives said.

Both the Sterling Stamping plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and Warren Stamping plant in Warren, Michigan, will get a $400 million total investment to support additional production, creating roughly 80 new U.S. jobs at the Sterling plant.

Another $119 million will be invested to relocate the Pentastar engine production currently at the Mack I Engine plant to the Dundee Engine plant in Dundee, Michigan.

Result of Trump’s Economic Nationalism

Fiat Chrysler’s decision to expand U.S. production came in response to Trump’s use of tariffs to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States after years of working and middle class job outsourcing by multinational corporations through multilateral free trade deals.

When Trump threatened last year to impose a 25 percent tariff on pickup trucks made in Mexico, Fiat Chrysler executives considered moving all Ram truck production out of Mexico.

Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley told Reuters last October that in light of Trump’s tentative USMCA trade agreement, the company decided to keep its heavy-duty truck production plant in Saltillo, Mexico, while also expanding production and jobs in the U.S.

“This massive FCA investment in Detroit shows that the president’s aggressive trade strategy is working to rebuild manufacturing and to make the United States the premier place to manufacture automobiles,” Coalition for a Prosperous America CEO Michael Stumo told Breitbart News. “The fact that they are expanding the manufacture of engines and complete vehicles in Michigan shows that the steel tariffs were not an impediment to growth. Thousands more jobs will be created to supply these new plants.”

“President Trump’s threat of auto tariffs likely supported this major investment decision,” Stumo continued. “If the tariffs on imported autos are imposed, it will help FCA’s Jeep and Ram further increase sales and market share, benefitting the Michigan economy and creating even more good paying jobs.”

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has, likewise, welcomed the news of new investments and jobs in American auto manufacturing by Fiat Chrysler, just as Ford and General Motors (GM) continue outsourcing their U.S. manufacturing to China and Mexico.

“At a time when the Detroit area and other communities are seeing auto plants without work and in jeopardy of closing while companies continue to ship vehicles into the US from Mexico, China, Korea, and other countries it is exciting to see that we can work with FCA and secure good union jobs here in Michigan,” UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada said in a statement.

Fiat Chrysler’s commitment to manufacturing electric cars in the U.S., rather than offshoring production to low-wage foreign countries is in stark contrast to the plans of Ford and GM.

Ford, for example, in 2017 announced it would produce electric vehicles in Mexico, reversing its promise to manufacture in Flat Rock, Michigan. Similarly, GM is laying off thousands of American workers while the corporation expands electric car production in China.

American manufacturing is vital to the U.S. economy, as every one manufacturing job supports an additional 7.4 American jobs in other industries.

 Decades of free trade, with deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), have devastated American manufacturing and U.S. workers’ job prospects, as well as suppressed their wages.

[Bullheaded Texan]

Cowboys for Trump Ride Through D.C. in Support of Border Wall.

 2/23/19 Penny Star 

D.C. Police escorted men and women on horses through the streets of the nation’s capital on Friday as Cowboys for Trump and a last-minute Native American rider rode in support of President Donald Trump and his efforts to build a wall on the U.S. southern border with Mexico.

 Some on the sidewalks cheered while others jeered as police escorted the more than a dozen riders carrying American and “Trump Make America Great Again” flags through downtown and past the White House.

Cowboys for Trump rode Friday through the nation’s capital, past the White House, to show their support for the president and a border wall. (Penny Starr/Breitbart News)

 Most of the Cowboys for Trump came from border communities in New Mexico where they said drug and human trafficking is rampant, and Trump’s national emergency declaration is essential to securing the border and protecting the American people and the lifestyle we enjoy.

 “The cowboys for Trump are riding to defend life,” Gavin Clarkson told Breitbart News. “They are riding for the right to defend our families with our Second Amendment rights.”

 “They’re riding to defend the rights of the unborn — the right to life,” Clarkson said. “We’re riding to defend the lives of the young children that are smuggled across our insecure border.” 

 “We’re riding to defend the lives of the brave men and women of the Customs and Border Protection because they need a physical barrier, technological infrastructure and human capital to be able to do their jobs every single day,” Clarkson said.

 Couy Griffin, wearing chaps and a fox cape, organized the ride on Facebook where he and other New Mexicans flew to D.C. and worked with horse ranchers in Maryland and Pennsylvania to ride from Cumberland, Maryland, along the C&O canal to Arlington National Cemetery. 

 Griffin, who is a county commissioner, said his family has been “directly affected” by the endless surge of immigrants coming across the border, eventually selling land that had been in the family for generations. Griffin led the ride carrying a New Mexico flag flanked by John Fox, who held an American flag and shared his reason for joining the group.

 

“I want to get rid of some of those people in there who are trying to destroy the president like Pelosi and Schumer,” Fox told Breitbart News. “I want to see the veterans taken care of; I want to see the homeless taken care of.”

“With all the money they’ve made off all the cartels and all the drugs coming across, that border wall could have been built ten times over ten years ago,” Fox said.

Ramie Harper of New Mexico rode with the Cowboys for Trump in Washington, DC, on Friday and carried a hat he made that he hopes to give to President Donald Trump. (Penny Starr/Breitbart News)

 Many of the riders and support crew shared stories about how illegal immigration has impacted them and their families, including Clarkson, who was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development at the Department of Interior in the Trump administration and who volunteered to drive the “poop truck” to clean up after the equine participants.

 “My best friend’s younger brother was killed by an illegal alien who was deported four times,” Clarkson said. “My Navy career was ended with a head-on collision with an illegal alien drunk driver. My son was in a hit and run accident on his bicycle.”\

 

Walker Acres of Las Cruces, New Mexico, was the youngest rider at 23.

“I believe that we need a wall,” Acres said. “We’ve got to have some protection down there on the southern border.”

“The sex trafficking and the drug trafficking down there on the southern border is just unreal. I’m a big immigration guy,” Walker said. “I love immigration, but it’s got to be the legal way.”

“We’ve got to have a little say as to who gets to come into our country,” Acres said.

The Cowboys for Trump, it turns out, were joined by Wolf Portugal of the Yokuts Indians of California.

Wolf Portugal joined the Cowboys for Trump in Washington, DC, on Friday to show his support for President Trump and a border wall. (Penny Starr/Breitbart News)

 “I’m not quiet about how I love Trump and what he’s doing,” Portugal said, adding that there is huge support for the president across the Native American population, including for his call to secure the border.

 The Cowboys also issued an invitation to House Speaker nancy pukelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader chuck schumer (D-NY) to visit New Mexico to see for themselves why Trump’s wall is needed.

 

[Bullheaded Texan]

  Ninth Circuit Sides With Trump on Border Wall.

14 days ago   Steve Straub

The infamously liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just sided with the Trump Administration on a border wall case, as The Hill reports:

 A Mexifornia-based federal appeals court on Monday sided with the Trump administration in lawsuits brought by states and environmental groups challenging the U.S. government’s authority to expedite construction of barriers along the border with Mexico.

 The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 ruling said the Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 gives the Department of Homeland Security broad authority to construct the border barriers and waive environmental laws in the process.

 The ruling affirms a district court’s decision that allowed the federal government to construct wall “prototypes” and replace 14 miles of primary fencing near San Diego and replace similar fencing along a three-mile strip near Calexico, Calif.

 The appeals court decision also narrows the path for environmental groups to launch legal challenges to President Trump’s proposed border wall.

 This is a rare victory for the President at the Ninth Circuit, which has ruled against him on several occasions.

Every now and then, common sense prevails.

 Facebook has greatly reduced the distribution of our stories in our readers’ newsfeeds and is instead promoting mainstream media sources. When you share to your friends, however, you greatly help distribute our content. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you.

[Bullheaded Texan]

President Trump Blindsides Congress – Finds All The Border Wall Money, And Billions More.

 27 days ago  Faith Braverman

No one thought to look there – now Donald can end this crisis, once and for all.

Congress has 3 weeks and counting to come up with a good solution for the border crisis.

What are the chances they will come up with something everyone can agree with? Almost zero.

 And that’s why Trump has an ace up his sleeve to cut the Democrats out.

From American Thinker:

 While President Trump is correct to remain committed to building a border barrier and has asked all Cabinet agencies for wall funding, he can fund the entire barrier without having to declare a national emergency.

Instead, he can draw full funding for a complete border barrier from unobligated balances. Unobligated balances “are the amounts of budget authority that have not yet been committed by contract or other legally binding action by the government.”

 Former senator Tom Coburn described unobligated balances as “essentially money for nothing.” While in 2012 there was an estimated $687 billion in unobligated balances, unobligated balances in federal and trust funds in FY 2019 is estimated to be a whopping $1,156,136,000,000.

SHARE to tell Trump to leave Congress in the dust and use this money to build the wall!

 This plan works on multiple levels. Not only will it finally pay for the border wall, but it will also be impossible for Democrats to stop it.

A President using unobligated funds to finance a project is hardly unprecedented. President Johnson used it to fund his Great Society, while Nixon dipped into it to fund the Vietnam War.

The Bush’s also used these funds to help pay for the Iraq War.

Far too often these funds are simply returned to the Treasury or are used on projects that don’t have noticeable benefits for Americans.

Shouldn’t this money be used for something that will protect us here at home?

 And using unobligated funds to pay for the wall wouldn’t require the approval of Congress. He just needs to have the Treasury reclaim that money, and then he can use a portion of the $2 trillion sitting unused in federal and trust funds.

[Bullheaded Texan]

Two New Republican Senators Want to End Pensions for Retiring Lawmakers.

   8 days ago  Wayne Dupree

While Dems propose massive spending initiatives, GOP recognizes that members of Congress should live as other Americans do!

 Freshman GOP Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) proposed the End Pensions In Congress Act this past Tuesday.

 The legislation is supposed to end pensions funded by the American taxpayer.

This is step one to getting our spoiled Congress to realize what it’s like to live like the rest of us do.

These wealthy members of Congress don’t need pensions, and they shouldn’t get paid during government shutdowns or when Congress isn’t in session.

 I absolutely love the initiative by these two Republicans.

I sincerely hope this is just the beginning of a massive overhaul of Congressional perks.

 The Democrats propose massive spending initiatives (Green New Deal) — and the Republicans are trying to remove government incentives.

 They’re putting their money where their mouth is so when they go after entitlements, they have a leg to stand on — and I’m all for it.

“Pensions are kind of an archaic thing,” said Braun in an interview with Yahoo Finance. “Here in government, I think it’s a great example of where it’s a remnant of the way things used to be. Most people [outside of Congress] don’t get them anymore.”

According to a 2017 report from the Congressional Research Service, members of Congress are eligible for a pension at age 62 if they have served for at least five years. Members qualify for a pension at age 50 if they’ve completed 20 years of service, and members of any age can receive a pension after 25 years of service.

The size of the pension depends on years of service and the average of the highest three years of salary.

“I think it’s time for that to go, especially when you look at the performance that both Congress and senators have provided over the last few decades. It’d be not only symbolic — it just shouldn’t be a perk that’s there in anymore,” said Braun. (source: Yahoo Finance)

Not far enough.

 As I said earlier, this is step one.

There needs to be an amendment saying that Congress can make no laws that give members of government anything the average American does not have.

This includes retirement, health care, etc. This would force them to repair Social Security and health care — or buy their own.

There should be NO incentive to staying in Congress for more than a few terms.

Serve, then move on, people, and get a real job.

 You are not supposed to get rich and comfortable serving the people. It’s backward.

During the shutdown, hardworking Americans went without pay while Cong. members were still collecting paychecks.
 I co-sponsored #NoBudgetNoPay and today, I’m proud to introduce a bill with @SenatorBraun that ends taxpayer-funded congressional pensions. -- Sen. Rick Scott

 

[Bullheaded Texan]

Cruz Term-Limits Bill Aims To End ‘Career Politicians’.

  8 days ago   Kevin Diaz

Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has introduced to Constitutional amendment to limit terms of office in Congress. (Jacob Ford/Odessa American via AP)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz wants to place term limits on members of Congress, an idea that has long appealed to people across the political divide who have grown skeptical of the current crop of professional politicians.

 But even if Cruz’s amendment to the U.S. Constitution were somehow enacted by the current Congress and the states – a long-shot at best – it would not bar him from running for a third or even fourth term in the Senate.

 Nor would it bar fellow Texas Republican John Cornyn from running for a fourth Senate term in 2020.

That’s because terms beginning before final ratification would not count.

“The amendment, as drafted, would start the clock once it was ratified,” Cruz explained in an interview. “So term limits would begin at that moment.”

 Cruz and Florida U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, a Republican, introduced an amendment last week to limit U.S. senators to two six-year terms and members of the U.S. House of Representatives to three two-year terms.

 Cruz offered up a similar amendment in January 2017. It went nowhere, as have a succession of term limit proposals since the 1940s, experts say. Many are intended as messaging bills to make a political statement.

 For Cruz, who was elected to a second term in November, exempting current lawmakers – at least for now – represents a concession to political reality.

 “My personal preference would be to make it retroactive,” he said. “But as a nod to practical politics, it would be much, much more difficult to get this passed if the immediate consequence of it happening was to throw out a whole bunch of incumbents. It’s awfully difficult to get them to vote for it if they’d be immediately giving up their jobs.”

 Cruz, who ran for president in 2016, said he would vote for a retroactive term limit proposal. But he’s not willing to voluntarily term limit himself like his 2018 opponent,beto o’rourke, an El Paso Democrat who left the House after three terms.

 “I’ve long said that I don’t support unilateral term limits – just one person or one side unilaterally restricting themselves when the rules don’t apply across the board,” he said. “I think there should be a fair and uniform rule for everyone.”

 Nevertheless, Cruz said o’rourke’s decision to restrict himself to three terms in a relatively safe Democratic district “demonstrates the bipartisan appeal of this idea.”

 Still, delaying the impact on current office holders would avoid some political awkwardness in Texas, where 25 of the state’s 36 House members – many of them veterans of more than a decade in Congress – are currently in their third terms or beyond.

 The Texas Democratic Party, poking fun at Cruz’s proposal, recently suggested that he might be calling to an “end” of his own Senate career – or that of Cornyn, whom he has endorsed for reelection in 2020.

But for Cruz, who does not face reelection until 2024, the soonest he could be term limited would be in 2036. For Cornyn, the expiration date would not arrive until 2032 – assuming the Cruz amendment were ratified before 2020.

 Cornyn’s office did not immediately respond Wednesday to an inquiry about his position on term limits.

Backers of Cruz’s term limit proposal include Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and David Perdue (R-Ga.). They argue that term limits prevent career politicians from becoming captive to lobbyists and special interests in Washington.

 President Donald Trump has pushed the idea as a way to “drain the swamp.”

Critics say it would do the opposite by filling the halls of Congress with inexperienced lawmakers with little policy expertise, forcing them to rely even more for guidance on professional staffers, insiders, bureaucrats and lobbyists.

 Casey Burgat, a governance analyst for R Street, a free market think tank in Washington, has argued that a Congress of novice lawmakers would lend itself to more corruption, not less. “Many of the corruptive, ‘swampy’ influences advocates contend would be curtailed by instituting term limits are, in fact, exacerbated by their implementation,” he wrote in Brookings Institution paper last year.

 Opponents also argue that term limits would restrict voters’ choices, applying to good lawmakers as well as bad ones.

Whatever their merits, Constitutional amendments are few and far between. For an amendment to be enacted, it needs to be approved by both chambers of Congress by two-thirds, as well as three quarters of state legislatures or conventions. The 27th Amendment – the most recent – was ratified in 1992. It requires that any law changing the salaries of members of Congress not take effect until an intervening election.

 Cruz, however, said conditions may be right for his latest attempt at term limits. Trump’s election vindicated an anti-establishment message, and polls show support for the idea of term limits across party lines.

 “When it comes to the American people, there is widespread, diverse agreement that limiting career politicians is good for America,” he said. “The impediment, the one population group that has historically been resistant to term limits has been, unsurprisingly, career politicians in Washington.”

 He also sees the current era of divided government – with a GOP-led Senate and a Democratic-led House – as a potential plus.

“Term limits don’t operate to favor or disfavor any particular political party,” he said. “They don’t favor or disfavor Republicans or Democrats … Divided government may be the ideal terrain to consider and pass that constraint on everybody.”Most importantly, they wouldn’t affect anyone for nearly another decade.