Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito extended a pause on a Texas law that allows the state’s law enforcement to arrest immigrants entering the United States from Mexico.

Alito, who handles emergency applications stemming from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, temporarily froze the law on March 4 as the Supreme Court considers a petition by the Biden administration to block the law for a longer period of time.

The Republican-appointed justice’s previous orders set a Wednesday deadline for the court to make its decision or otherwise allow the law, Senate Bill 4, to go into effect. The new pair of orders extend the deadline until Monday at 5 p.m. EDT.

If allowed to go into effect, SB 4 would make it a state crime to cross the border illegally, giving Texas law enforcement the authority to apprehend and deport anyone suspected of entering the country illegally. Violations of the state-issued deportation orders carry up to a 20-year prison sentence for repeat offenses.

A U.S. District Court judge previously enjoined the state from enforcing the law, saying it was “antithetical to the Constitution. The 5th Circuit reversed course and allowed SB 4 to take effect, but put the ruling on hold until March 10 to allow the Justice Department time to make its appeal to the Supreme Court.”

“By allowing Texas to remove noncitizens to Mexico without its consent, SB4 would have significant and immediate adverse effects on the United States’ relationship with Mexico — a relationship that is critical to the federal government’s ability to effectively address immigration at the southwest border,” U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote in the government’s petition to the high court.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has defended the law and argues the Biden administration has not worked hard enough to ease the immigration crisis at the border, effectively forcing the state to make strides to quell the influx of immigrants.

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“The state’s injury is even sharper than usual here, moreover, because Texas is the nation’s first-line defense against transnational violence and has been forced to deal with the deadly consequences of the federal government’s inability or unwillingness to protect the border,” Aaron Nielson, Texas’s solicitor general, wrote in the state’s brief. 

SB 4 was passed last year by the Texas legislature and was slated to take effect on March 5 but was temporarily blocked after the district court’s decision on Feb. 29.