The court ordered a delay in implementation of the sweeping new law, which would give local law enforcement officers in Texas the right to arrest and remove migrants. The intervention by the court came after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said on Saturday that it would allow the law to go into effect while the case against it proceeded in the courts, setting aside a lower-court ruling that had halted implementation of the law. The Supreme Court did not overrule the appeals court. Instead, Justice Samuel Alito said in a brief order that the court was pushing back the date when the law could potentially take effect until 5 p.m. on March 13. The federal government had petitioned the high court to overturn the circuit court ruling and block the law. Justice Alito said in the order that Texas would have until March 11 to respond.