Ilhan Omar renews pressure on the US to join the ICC amid pressure from Trump | Court Affairs

The decision comes days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised to ‘remove’ the International Court of Justice.

United States Representative Ilhan Omar has rejected President Donald Trump’s proposal to “remove” the International Criminal Court (ICC), instead issuing a resolution asking the country to join the court.

The move came just days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised to “destroying the ICC – brick by brick, if necessary”, using “all the tools at our government’s disposal”.

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Of Omar to solvewhich was launched on Wednesday, calls on the US to join the ICC by ratifying the Rome Statute, the court’s founding document.

The decision will also force the Trump administration to raise it sanctions and visa restrictions imposed by judicial authorities.

Omar, a former child refugee from Somalia, argued in a speech this week that joining the court could be a way to strengthen international law.

“If we truly believe in human rights and the rule of law, we must promote justice around the world – not weaken it,” Omar said. “The United States must lead by example and show that no one is above the law.”

But the Trump administration has criticized the ICC for its investigation of US and Israeli officials.

Neither the US nor Israel have signed the Rome Statute, and they do not recognize the jurisdiction of the court. But all these countries are accused of violating human rights in ICC member countries.

The ICC, for example, has investigated Israel for war crimes in Gaza, issuing arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024.

Several experts, including the United Nations, have confirmed that Israel’s war in Gaza was killing Palestinians.

The US, meanwhile, was investigated for crimes committed in Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion, as well as “black facilities” where prisoners were held.

During his first term and continuing into his second, Trump has taken action against the ICC and its officials to punish those involved in such investigations.

In the past year, many ICC prosecutors and judges have faced sanctions, as well freedom groups who will testify in court.

On Monday, Rubio continued, accusing the court in a video of “a war against our country, not with bullets or arrows, but with laws, compacts and the power of so-called international law”.

The State Department has announced a “whole-of-government response” to weaken the court, saying the administration will try to “dismantle” it systematically.

The proposed measures include asking countries that support the US military and government to “reject the ICC’s proposed powers to prosecute American officials and soldiers”.

The announcement also called for “increased monitoring of countries that refuse to reject the false authority of the ICC while relying on US support”, as well as “an increase in sanctions” and restrictions on the movement of people and organizations affiliated with the court.

Trump ordered the administration in 2020 to investigate Afghanistan, before former President Joe Biden withdrew it.

On Monday, Omar criticized Rubio’s announcement as “reckless and dangerous”.

“I have seen firsthand that impunity leads to a lot of violence,” he wrote in support of the court’s work. “The ICC is a vital tool for justice where victims have nowhere else to turn.”

The decision comes as two US civil rights groups are suing the Trump administration, saying the president’s sanctions have forced them to suspend their constitutionally-protected work.

Both groups have provided support for the court’s investigation into Israeli war crimes committed in the Palestinian territories. They say their work is protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.