Mexico and 10 other countries have filed amicus briefs in a lawsuit that asks a judge to declare Georgia's new immigration law unconstitutional and to block it from being enforced.

The lawsuit was filed two weeks ago by civil liberties groups.

Besides Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru filed amicus briefs Wednesday in support of the plaintiffs.

The groups are asking U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash to prevent the law from taking effect until the lawsuit has been resolved. He's scheduled a hearing for next week.

The law authorizes law enforcement to check the immigration status of a suspect who cannot provide accepted identification and to detain and hand over to federal authorities anyone found to be in the country illegally.