Blocking Property of Certain Persons Associated With the International Criminal Court
The order declares a national emergency over the International Criminal Court's attempts to investigate, arrest, or prosecute U.S. military, intelligence, and government personnel without U.S. consent, immediately blocking the U.S.-held assets of ICC officials involved in such actions and suspending their entry into the United States.
It is the first executive order to invoke IEEPA and the National Emergencies Act against the ICC, creating a formal sanctions regime — including asset freezes and travel bans — targeting foreign persons who assist or carry out ICC jurisdiction over U.S. and allied personnel.
What this order does
What it orders
The order declares a national emergency, finding that the ICC's assertions of jurisdiction over U.S. and allied military, intelligence, and government personnel constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. It immediately blocks all U.S.-located property and property interests of foreign persons whom the Secretary of State determines have directly engaged in ICC efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute U.S. or allied personnel without consent, as well as those who materially assisted such efforts. It also suspends the entry — as immigrants or nonimmigrants — of ICC officials, employees, and agents, and their immediate family members.
The Secretary of State may grant case-by-case exceptions to the travel ban where entry is not contrary to U.S. interests or would further law enforcement objectives. Transactions for official U.S. government business are explicitly exempt. The order does not create enforceable private rights against the United States and is subject to the availability of appropriations.
Who it affects
Foreign ICC officials, prosecutors, employees, and agents — and their spouses and children — who are barred from entering the United States or whose U.S.-held assets are frozen. U.S. persons are prohibited from conducting financial transactions with any designated individual. U.S. military, intelligence, and government personnel are the named beneficiaries of the protections the order asserts.
Why it matters
ICC officials directly involved in investigations targeting U.S. or allied personnel face immediate asset freezes and travel bans to the United States. Any U.S. person — including financial institutions — who provides funds, goods, or services to a designated ICC official is also in violation, creating compliance obligations across U.S. banking and business sectors that deal internationally.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The Secretary of State, consulting the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General, identifies and designates individuals meeting the blocking criteria; no prior notice to the designated person is required. Treasury is authorized to adopt rules, regulations, and licenses to implement the asset-freeze regime using all IEEPA powers. State administers the travel ban through the existing Proclamation 8693 framework. Treasury must submit recurring and final reports to Congress under both the NEA and IEEPA reporting requirements. All federal departments and agencies must take appropriate measures within their authority to implement the order.
Actions and deadlines
- Secretary of State to designate foreign persons meeting blocking and travel-ban criteria, in consultation with Treasury and Justice
- Secretary of the Treasury to adopt rules and regulations implementing the asset-freeze regime under IEEPA
- Secretary of the Treasury to submit recurring and final reports to Congress on the declared national emergency