The protest to keep 20-year-old Steve Li in the country on Friday was outside Barbara Boxer's SF offices, but it was Senator Dianne Feinstein who stepped in Sunday to ask immigration officials to delay Li's deportation. "I have asked ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to halt the deportation proceedings while I consider introducing a private bill that will allow Mr. Li to remain in the United States on a temporary basis," Feinstein said in a statement. She is a supporter of the Dream Act, which Congress has yet to vote on, which would allow foreign students in Li's position to remain in the country, and she says it would be unjust to deport him before that was voted on.

Boxer, for her part, says she does not introduce private bills in the Senate, though she supports the Dream Act. Private bills are a last resort in immigration cases, however very few are ever successfully passed. Just introducing one, as DiFi is suggesting, could put Li's deportation on hold however, and his friends and supporters now have renewed hope. [Chron]