Wait… is Donald Trump banning Amal Clooney from entering the U.S.?

Yes, yes, get that “Wait.. WHAT?” reaction out of the way because this is very much a possible future for Amal Clooney under Donald Trump’s reign in America.

As reported by the Financial Times, many lawyers associated with the International Criminal Court (ICC), including Clooney, have been warned by the U.K. Foreign Office that they could be facing sanctions from the U.S. president for providing legal advice in the war crimes against Gaza case to the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Should Amal Clooney take this seriously?

Well, Trump has already issued Executive Order 14203, “Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court,” and under it, British lawyer Karim Khan became the first ICC official to face sanctions for advising in the case. All his U.S.-based assets were frozen, and he has been denied entry into the country.

Amal, who holds the license to practice law in the state of New York, also owns property in the U.S. with her husband, actor George Clooney (who has not been a Trump fan, to say the least). She is yet to be sanctioned or banned and these rumored sanctions do go against the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers (1990) that ensures lawyers can perform their job without “intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference” as well as remain free of being “threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.”

But when has Trump let the law dictate his actions?

In a chat with People, international criminal lawyer Alexandro Maria Tirelli warned that the possibility of Amal and other major barristers getting barred from America is very much there, as via his executive order, Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977. It allows the U.S. president to go against the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers when it comes to individuals who are labeled “hostile to American interests.”

According to Tirelli, the Trump administration will be making the decisions and while those facing the sanctions can challenge them with a federal lawsuit – for “violation of the right to due process,” “abuse of executive authority,” or “infringement of professional freedom” – they would be unable to enter the U.S. throughout the lengthy court case that can go on for two years.