By ACACIA CORONADO and LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ plan to arrest migrants who enter the U.S. illegally is headed to the Supreme Court in a legal showdown over the federal government’s authority over immigration.

The high court on Monday blocked Texas’ immigration law from going into effect until March 13 and asked the state to respond by March 11. The law was set to take effect Saturday, and the court’s decision came just hours after the Justice Department asked it to intervene.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the law in December and for months has unveiled a series of escalating measures on the border that have tested the boundaries of how far a state can go keep migrants from entering the country.

The law would allow state officers to arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally. People who are arrested could then agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the country or face a misdemeanor charge for entering the U.S. illegally. Migrants who don’t leave after being ordered to do so could be arrested again and charged with a more serious felony.

The Justice Department told the Supreme Court that the law would profoundly alter “the status quo that has existed between the United States and the States in the context of immigration for almost 150 years.” It went on to argue that the law would have “significant and immediate adverse effects” on the country’s relationship with Mexico and “create chaos” in enforcing federal immigration laws in Texas.

The federal government cited a 2012 Supreme Court ruling on an Arizona law that would have allowed police to arrest people for federal immigration violations, often referred to by opponents as the “show me your papers” bill. The divided high court found that the impasse in Washington over immigration reform did not justify state intrusion.

In a statement Monday, the Texas Attorney General’s Office said the state’s law mirrored federal law and “was adopted to address the ongoing crisis at the southern border, which hurts Texans more than anyone else.”

The federal government’s emergency request to the Supreme Court came after a federal appeals court over the weekend stayed U.S. District Judge David Ezra’s sweeping rejection of the law.

In a 114-page ruling Thursday, Ezra rebuked Texas’ immigration enforcement and brushed off claims by Republicans about an ongoing “invasion” along the southern border due to record-high illegal crossings.

Ezra added that the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, conflicts with federal immigration law and could get in the way of U.S. foreign relations and treaty obligations.

According to Ezra’s ruling, allowing Texas to supersede federal law due to an “invasion” would “amount to nullification of federal law and authority — a notion that is antithetical to the Constitution and has been unequivocally rejected by federal courts since the Civil War.”

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

Texas has been arresting migrants for years under a different program that is based on criminal trespass arrests.

Though Ezra said some might sympathize with Texas officials’ concerns about immigration enforcement by the federal government, he said that was not enough to excuse a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

The battle over the Texas immigration law, known as Senate Bill 4, is one of multiple legal disputes between Texas officials and the Biden administration over how far the state can go to patrol the Texas-Mexico border and prevent illegal border crossings.

Several Republican governors have backed Abbott’s efforts, saying the federal government is not doing enough to enforce existing immigration laws.

Some of Abbott’s attempts to impede illegal border crossings have included a floating barrier in the Rio Grande— which Ezra previously blocked and is part of an ongoing legal battle— and placing razor wire along the state’s boundary with Mexico. State guard officers have also blocked U.S. Border Patrol agents from accessing a riverfront park in Eagle Pass that was previously used by federal agents to process migrants.

___ Whitehurst reported from Washington.

CLOQUET — Investigators say the Anoka County man who shot and killed two people at a northern Minnesota motel before killing himself did not know or have contact with the two victims before the incident.

Police identified Nicholas Elliot Lenius, 32, of Ramsey, as the primary suspect in the killing of clerk Shellby Marie Trettel, 22, of Cloquet, and Patrick Jeffrey Roers, 35, of Deer River, at the Super 8 in Cloquet.

Police believe Lenius may have been in the midst of a mental health episode that was possibly compounded by being under the influence of methamphetamine. A toxicology report confirmed the drug was in his bloodstream at the time of his death, according to a news release Monday from the Cloquet Police Department.

While conducting interviews during the investigation, police found that Lenius contacted a co-worker and referenced dealing with “monsters.”

After examining four of Lenius’ electronic devices, investigators determined he did not know the suspects.

According to search warrants, Lenius appeared to be talking to someone on the phone during the incident.

During the investigation, officers spoke with Lenius’ work supervisor, who said he received a text message from Lenius that said, “WTF is going on.” Lenius’ supervisor then called Lenius at 6:30 p.m., which matches the time frame of the phone call on the footage.

While searching a 2020 Ford F-150 pickup truck registered to Lenius, police found a camera that appears to have been actively recording.

Police were called at 6:33 p.m. Jan. 8 by a hotel employee who found Trettel and said she looked like she was attacked. Trettel was transported to St. Luke’s in Duluth, where she was pronounced dead.

Police believe that Trettel was Lenius’ first victim. He then went outside and shot Roers multiple times while he was inside a vehicle. Lenius then walked a short distance and fatally shot himself.

Based on surveillance footage, police believe the incident lasted about 10 minutes.

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By ZEKE MILLER (AP White House Correspondent)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Monday lifted its COVID-19 testing requirement for those who plan to be in close contact with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses, bringing to an end the last coronavirus prevention protocol at the White House.

The White House said the change aligns its policies with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. The agency last week relaxed its recommendation that those who test positive for COVID-19 isolate for five days. Now, the agency says people can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving and it’s been a day since they’ve had a fever.

The White House testing protocol was instituted shortly after the pandemic began in 2020 when former President Donald Trump was in the White House. It was further strengthened by Biden’s administration when he took office amid the pandemic in January 2021.

Both Trump and Biden contracted the virus while in office. Trump required hospitalization after falling seriously ill weeks before the 2020 presidential election; Biden had minimal symptoms after catching it in the summer of 2022 after having been vaccinated.

More than 1.18 million people in the U.S. died from COVID-19, according to CDC data and 6.85 million were hospitalized over the past four years. More than 270 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. The vaccines have helped dramatically reduce instances of serious disease and death since their widespread availability in early 2021.