Washington DC - The US Supreme Court on Monday temporarily blocked a Texas law that would allow state and local police to arrest and deport some migrants who cross into the United States from Mexico.

The law, known as Senate Bill 4, has been tied up in the courts as Democratic President Joe Biden's White House wrangles with Republican-run Texas over it.

Now, its fate is in the hands of the Supreme Court, which has blocked the law from going into effect until March 13 while it reviews the case.

In the United States, immigration matters including policing are handled by the federal government, not states.

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The Texas law would have made crossing the border without documentation or not at authorized checkpoints a state crime, a move the federal Department of Justice has called unconstitutional.

immigrants' rights groups have warned that Senate Bill 4's provisions will lead to even more racial profiling and greater militarization of border communities, as well as infringe on the international right to seek asylum.

In a tense presidential election year, Republicans blame Biden for the recent record arrivals of migrants into the United States.

Biden himself has tried to institute cruel and inhumane immigration changes, but the legislation, tied to military aid for Ukraine, was scuttled by Republicans in Congress.

The White House says the party of Donald Trump, who is seeking to challenge Biden for the White House again in November, is deliberately sabotaging a bipartisan attempt to find a solution.

Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas and a Trump ally, has decried what he calls an "invasion" of the Southern border.

The Justice Department has also filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of a floating barrier installed by Texas authorities in the Rio Grande river to stop migrants crossing from Mexico.