Des Moines, Iowa - A federal judge in Iowa has blocked a controversial anti-migrant law just weeks before it was set to take effect.

US District Court Judge Stephen Locher issued a preliminary injunction on Senate File 2340, a state law that would allow state and local law enforcement to arrest, charge, and deport migrants who had previously been deported or denied entry to the US.

"We just won a temporary block in federal court of Iowa's SF 2340, a copycat of a Texas's SB 4 and one of the worst immigration laws ever to be passed in the state of Iowa," the ACLU of Iowa announced on X.

SB 4 is a Texas law would empower state and local law enforcement to detain, arrest, and deport people suspected of crossing the Southern border into the US without documentation. The measure is not in effect as it faces a court challenge.

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Like Texas', the Iowa legislation has faced accusations that it violates the federal government's authority over matters of immigration policy.

"As a matter of politics, the new legislation might be defensible," Locher ruled. "As a matter of constitutional law, it is not."

Iowa's Republican Governor Kim Reynolds blasted the decision on X: "Iowa’s legislation to deter illegal immigration has been BLOCKED - leaving us defenseless to the consequences of Biden’s Open Border. More crime, overdose deaths, and human trafficking. All because Biden won’t do his job!"

The Iowa law was due to take effect on July 1. State Attorney General Brenna Bird has already announced her office plans to appeal Locher's decision.