A federal judge on Thursday blocked a new Texas law that would have given police broad powers to arrest immigrants suspected of entering the United States illegally, leaving the Biden administration in a fight with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Greg Abbott wins in battle over immigration enforcement.

The preliminary injunction granted by U.S. District Judge David Ezra halts the law that was scheduled to take effect on March 5. Texas officials are expected to appeal.

Opponents called the Texas measure the most high-profile attempt by a state to regulate immigration since Arizona’s 2010 law, and opponents dismissed the bill as a “show me your papers” bill. The U.S. Supreme Court partially overturned the Arizona law, but some Texas Republican leaders want to revisit the ruling.

The lawsuit is one of several legal battles between Texas and President Joe Biden’s administration over how far the state can go to prevent migrants from crossing the border.

The measure would allow state law enforcement officers to arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally. Once detained, they may agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the country or face misdemeanor charges for illegally entering the United States. Immigrants who do not leave after being ordered to leave may be rearrested and charged with more serious felonies.

During a Feb. 15 hearing, Ezra expressed skepticism about the state’s defense of so-called Senate Bill 4. He also said he sympathized with the concerns expressed by Abbott and other state officials about the high number of illegal border crossings.

Ezra, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, said he worries the United States could become a coalition of states enforcing their own immigration laws. “It’s the same thing that was written during the Civil War as to what you couldn’t do,” Ezra told the attorney.

Civil rights groups also sued the state, arguing the law could lead to civil rights violations and racial profiling.

Republicans supporting the law said it would not target immigrants already living in the U.S. because of a two-year statute of limitations on illegal entry charges and would only be enforced along the state’s border with Mexico.

Tensions remain high this year between Texas and the Biden administration over who can patrol the border and how. Other Republican governors also expressed support for Abbott, who said the federal government is not doing enough to enforce immigration laws.

Among other things, Texas installed floating barriers in the Rio Grande River, set up razor wire along the U.S.-Mexico border and blocked Border Patrol agents from entering a riverfront park in Eagle Pass that was previously used to process migrants