Sponsor
Richard Lynn Scott
Senator · R-FL
Senator · R-FL
The bill centralizes control over cooperation with the ICC—protecting state and local resources and preventing conflicting local actions—at the cost of potentially hindering international justice, creating delays and federal costs, and reducing local policy autonomy.
State and local law enforcement and governments are protected from being compelled to execute ICC arrest warrants or follow international arrest requests without case-specific federal authorization, preserving a single federal decision point for foreign criminal justice actions and avoiding conflicting international obligations for local officers.
State and local jurisdictions keep their personnel, facilities, equipment, and funds from being used for ICC arrests absent Congressional or Presidential authorization, protecting local budgets and preventing unplanned local expenditures.
Federal preemption creates uniform national standards that reduce conflicting state or local rules on this subject, giving individuals and businesses predictable, consistent rules across states.
Foreign nationals on U.S. soil (and victims of alleged international crimes) may be shielded from ICC arrest requests, making it harder for international justice mechanisms to secure arrests and undermining U.S. cooperation with global accountability efforts.
Requiring case-by-case Congressional or Presidential authorization for cooperation with the ICC can delay urgent international investigations and responses, increasing federal operational burdens and costs and slowing law-enforcement action.
The Act creates potential federal–state conflict and legal uncertainty about when cooperation is permitted, inviting litigation, raising operational costs for law enforcement, and complicating intergovernmental relations.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Prevents state and local officials from arresting or assisting the ICC in detaining foreign nationals unless Congress or the President specifically authorizes cooperation.
Prohibits state, territorial, DC, and local officers from arresting, detaining, or otherwise depriving the liberty of a foreign national solely on process from the International Criminal Court (ICC), and bars use of state or local resources to carry out ICC requests unless Congress expressly authorizes cooperation or the President certifies and authorizes cooperation for a specific national security need. The law preempts any state or local law or policy that would permit such cooperation and includes a severability clause.
Official title: Prohibit State and local law enforcement officers from arresting foreign nationals within the United States solely on the basis of an indictment, warrant, or request issued by the International Criminal Court, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 29, 2025 by Richard Lynn Scott · Last progress September 29, 2025