The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted permission for Texas to implement a law empowering local police to detain migrants suspected of unlawfully crossing the border.

The decision follows a day after the court extended a halt on the state law as requested by the Biden administration, which had filed a lawsuit to invalidate the measure. The administration contended that Senate Bill 4, the law in question, would encroach upon fundamental federal authority concerning immigration.

Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General, has asserted that the state’s law closely aligns with federal law and was enacted to address the shortcomings of the Biden administration’s response to the situation at the southern border.

Twice this month—and again this week—Justice Samuel Alito extended a ruling blocking Texas from enforcing Senate Bill 4, which was slated to go into effect later this month. The law empowers Texas law enforcement officials to arrest anyone in the state illegally.

Earlier, “Alito issued the administrative hold, which will block the law from taking effect until March 13. That temporary pause will give the court additional time to review the case but does not necessarily signal which way the court is leaning,” CNN reported at the time.

Alito extended the stay until March 18 at 5 p.m.

CNN added: “Senate Bill 4, signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in December, immediately raised concerns among immigration advocates about increased racial profiling as well as detentions and attempted deportations by state authorities in Texas, where Latinos represent 40% of the population. Last week, a federal judge in Austin, Texas, blocked the state government from implementing the law.”

“If allowed to proceed, SB 4 could open the door to each state passing its version of immigration laws,” Judge David Alan Ezra wrote in his ruling that the federal appeals court eventually overturned.