Rep. Ilhan Omar on Wednesday introduced a bill urging the U.S. to join the International Criminal Court, countering recent Trump administration moves.

July 15 (UPI) -- Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., on Wednesday introduced a resolution urging the United States to join the International Criminal Court, countering the Trump administration's push to dismantle the multi-nation tribunal.

"The ICC is a crucial tool for justice when victims have nowhere else to turn," Omar said in a social media post. "If we believe in human rights and the rule of law, we should strengthen international justice -- not work to dismantle it."

The bill comes two days after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a plan to "systematically disable" the court, which investigates war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. He said the United States would use diplomatic pressure and sanctions, including visa revocations and travel bans for ICC personnel and investigations of nations that "refuse to reject the ICC's false authority."

Rubio called the ICC "an intolerable threat to U.S. sovereignty" and said, "the ICC and its friends are waging a war against our country." This follows a 2025 executive order from Trump that imposed sanctions on the ICC after the body called for investigations into the Israeli government's military actions in Gaza.

The Guardian reported the legal experts say Rubio mischaracterized the court and its jurisdiction. The United States has not signed the Rome Statute, the international treaty that created the ICC, and the court cannot prosecute crimes on U.S. soil.

Other countries that have not include China and Russia, while 125 sovereign states including Britain, Canada and Denmark have done so.

Democratic administrations in the United States have largely cooperated with the ICC, while Republican administrations have differed. The late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced a resolution (later passed by the Senate) in 2022 urging an ICC war crimes investigation into Vladimir Putin and members of the Russian regime.

Also Wednesday, two U.S.-based nonprofits filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the 2025 executive order targeting the ICC. The Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide and Democracy for the Arab World Now said the sanctions and threats to the court violate the First Amendment rights of U.S. citizens, particularly the constitutional right to advocate for the human rights of Palestinians.