By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court temporarily set aside a judge’s ruling that blocked a Texas law giving state officials broad powers to arrest, prosecute and order the removal of people who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

The order on Saturday from the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means the law, known as SB4, could take effect as the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden pursues claims that it interferes with the federal government’s enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

But the 5th Circuit stayed its decision for seven days to give the federal government a chance to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a petition with the high court on Monday arguing that the 5th Circuit’s decision was wrong and that letting the law take effect would harm the United States’ relationship with Mexico and other countries.

“And beyond its disruptive foreign relations effects, SB4 would create chaos in the United States’ efforts to administer federal immigration laws in Texas,” Justice Department lawyers wrote.

The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the petition.

If the Supreme Court does not reverse the 5th Circuit’s decision, SB4 would take effect on March 10 pending Texas’ appeal of last week’s decision by U.S. District Judge David Ezra in Austin.

In his ruling, Ezra had said the Biden administration is likely to prevail in its legal challenge, citing a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down key provisions of a similar Arizona immigration law.

Immigrant advocates and American Civil Liberties Union of Texas have said that the Texas law “overrides federal immigration law” and “fuels racial profiling.”

Migrants and asylum seekers who cross outside of ports of entry can already be charged with illegal entry or re-entry under federal laws; but the Texas law would make it a state crime to illegally enter or re-enter Texas from a foreign country and would give state and local law enforcement the power to arrest and prosecute violators. It also would allow state judges to order that individuals leave the country, with prison sentences up to 20 years for those who refuse to comply.

SB4 is part of a larger effort by the Republican-led state to crack down on irregular border crossings. Paxton, Republican Governor Greg Abbott and other state officials have blamed Biden for a record increase in illegal migration and has said the state’s actions, including installing razor wire fencing at the border and a floating barrier in the Rio Grande river, were necessary because of federal inaction.

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Jonathan Oatis, Aurora Ellis)