WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) -- A federal court has extended its order that stops Texas from arresting, jailing and even deporting migrants who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border into the state.
However, some sheriffs vow to never enforce the controversial new law.
"Immigration is pretty much the least of my worries right now," said Williamson County Sheriff Mike Gleason.
Sheriff Gleason said the law doesn't really make sense for departments like his who aren't right on the border.
"I have to see you cross the border illegally," he said. "So, if I catch you up here on I-35, 200 counties into the state, and I didn't witness you, I can't even sign the warrant anyway."
Gleason wants the state to focus on other crimes, like drug and human trafficking, that travel up from the border to his county near Austin.
"Texas is aggressively working to secure that border," said U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, (R-Tenn.).
Blackburn supports the state's efforts.
"Seeing the improvement in Eagle Pass was certainly instructive," she said.
Fresh off a trip to the border Tuesday, Blackburn said state policies, like barriers that aim to block migrants from entering the U.S., are working.
"Their numbers have dramatically decreased," she said.
Blackburn is sponsoring a bill that would empower border states to install temporary barriers on federal land.
"When you look at Eagle Pass, you see why that legislation should pass," she said.
But for now, Congress is still stalled on federal immigration policy.
Oral arguments on the merits of the Texas law are expected next week in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. That court or ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court will determine the law's fate.
