No, they couldn't, because they didn't have 60 votes in the Senate to break a filibuster Wrong on multiple counts. 1) they did have a 60-vote supermajority[1]

No, they couldn't, because they didn't have 60 votes in the Senate to break a filibuster Wrong on multiple counts. 1) they did have a 60-vote supermajority[1] for much of 2009-2010, given that the two "independents" always caucused with Democrats, and 2) the filibuster threshold was just a Senate rule that could be changed at any time by the majority (and the Democrats later did exactly that). 3) at least four[2] Republican senators overtly supported amnesty and would not have supported a filibuster of any immigration measure. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/111th_United_States_Congress#Party_summary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/111th_United_States_Congress#P... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_Eight_(immigration) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_Eight_(immigration)