Sponsors (3)
The bill centralizes decisions about responding to ICC arrest requests to protect state and local officials and preserve local resources, but does so at the cost of limiting local law-enforcement options, reducing access to international accountability, constraining state and local policy autonomy, and shifting costs and legal burdens to the federal level.
State and local governments and law enforcement are barred from executing ICC arrest requests unless Congress or the President authorizes federal cooperation, creating a single national policy and reducing conflicts between local and federal authority.
State and local officials are protected from being compelled to arrest or detain foreign nationals on ICC warrants, preserving officials' discretion and shielding local personnel from having to use local resources for international prosecutions without federal direction.
Local and state public funds and resources are preserved because the bill prevents use of state or local money and personnel to assist ICC actions absent federal authorization.
Foreign nationals in the U.S. and victims seeking international accountability could be shielded from ICC arrest requests if federal authorities decline to act, reducing access to international justice mechanisms.
Local law enforcement and communities could face reduced ability to pursue immediate arrests, extradition-related actions, or cross-border investigations when cooperation with ICC processes would aid prosecutions, potentially delaying or impeding law-enforcement outcomes.
A federal preemption of differing state or local laws reduces local control and can override familiar local protections, programs, and policy experimentation that communities rely on.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Introduced September 16, 2025 by Elise M. Stefanik · Last progress September 16, 2025
Preempts state and local governments from arresting, detaining, or otherwise depriving the liberty of a foreign national solely on the basis of process from the International Criminal Court (ICC), and bars state or local cooperation or use of public resources to carry out ICC-issued requests, warrants, or indictments. The bill makes those restrictions nationwide, allows two narrow federal exceptions (an act of Congress or a specific presidential authorization tied to national security), and states that conflicting state or local laws are superseded.