That still looks pretty hopeless, if you ask me. We could find only 36 Dems to vote to enforce the law? That pretty much means that all of the GOPers must vote correctly, which isn’t going to happen.
That was in 2005. The bad news is that the Dems picked up more seats in 2006. The good news is that the American public is much more aware of and galvanized by the issue. For example, the Dem running against Dole in NC is running hard on the issue of illegal immigration charging that Dole hasn’t been tough enough on the issue.