Phoenix, Arizona - Lawmakers in Arizona voted Tuesday to put a contentious anti-immigration plan on the ballot in November's election.

Voters will weigh the proposal, modeled on a Texas bill, which would make crossing the border without documentation a state crime and give local judges the power to kick people out of the country.

Border policy is customarily a federal matter in the US.

The move came the same day Democratic President Joe Biden announced an executive order allowing the government to temporarily close the border with Mexico to people seeking asylum.

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The Republican Party-backed plan in Arizona is the latest to address the issue of immigration in the border state, with opponents warning that it will only increase racial profiling and violence in border communities.

Arizona is a key electoral battleground, won by Biden in 2020 by just 10,000 votes. It is expected to be vital again in this year's knife-edge rematch with Donald Trump.

Republicans hope that by putting the issue on the ballot in November, they will draw supporters to the polls who will also vote for the party's slate of candidates, including Trump.

Democrats, meanwhile, will be hoping the measure will galvanize turnout for those opposed to the measure – even as Biden seeks severe migration curbs of his own.

Iowa and Oklahoma have also enacted laws partially cribbing from the Texas legislation.

The Texas law is being challenged in appeals court, with politicians in the state vowing to continue the fight all the way to the conservative-dominated US Supreme Court.