Rep. LaMonica McIver, 40, gave birth to her second child, a healthy baby girl, on Thursday, Oct. 1, her office said in a statement.
The birth comes as McIver faces prosecution by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department, which alleges she assaulted federal officers outside a New Jersey immigration detention facility in May 2025. Federal prosecutors have sought to portray the Democratic congresswoman as violent and “out of control.”
“Being a mom is one of the greatest joys of my life, and I feel deeply grateful to welcome this beautiful, healthy baby into the world,” McIver said in a statement. “Bringing a child into the world is a reminder not only of why we fight for maternal healthcare and reproductive rights, but of why we fight for the rights and freedoms of our most vulnerable– they are someone’s babies too.”
If convicted, McIver faces up to 17 years in prison. The first-term congresswoman, who maintains her innocence, sought to have the case thrown out and is considering taking her argument to the Supreme Court.
“It’s always been worrying to me,” McIver told PEOPLE in May 2026. “I am a mom of a 9-year-old girl. I have a husband. I have a family that is extremely worried in this moment. It’s not just the pregnancy. Of course, obviously, this adds an extra layer.”
McIver went through a tumultuous health journey to have her second child with husband Khalif Thomas, including a battle with uterine fibroids that required multiple surgeries, according to her office. She is the 15th member of Congress to give birth while in office, her staff said.
“Stress is really a problem for women who are expecting, especially Black women dealing with the maternal health crisis that we are in in this country,” she says. “I don’t want to stress myself out, even though I know I have to deal with the situation of this case.”
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate of any wealthy country. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Black women are roughly three times as likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause as White women.
A year after the conflict at the Newark, N.J., facility known as Delaney Hall, McIver told PEOPLE her mother worries the congresswoman will receive the maximum penalty if convicted, and a classmate told her now-10-year-old daughter: “Your mom’s going to jail.”
“I don’t want to be just remembered as LaMonica McIver, the congresswoman. I want to be remembered as LaMonica McIver, the mother of two beautiful children at home … a good mother and a good wife, a good daughter and a good sister,” McIver said. “Those are things, to me, that outlive us.”
In June 2025, the Justice Department charged McIver in a three-count indictment alleging she “forcibly impeded and interfered” with federal officers during an oversight visit to Delaney Hall the month prior.
Federal prosecutors alleged McIver used her forearms to “forcibly strike” one immigration officer and tried to restrain another as officers attempted to handcuff Newark’s mayor, Ras Baraka.
The mayor was charged with trespassing, but a judge dismissed the charges with prejudice — meaning the case can’t be brought again — and reprimanded the U.S. attorney’s office that brought the case.
“Putting aside the humanity or the lack thereof, this woman is pregnant, having a baby, looking at multiple years in federal prison for just doing her job,” former MSNBC host Katie Phang, an attorney who is friends with McIver, told PEOPLE on Wednesday, Sept. 30. “She is being used as, I think, a test case for this administration to flex its power and to show that they can prosecute members of the opposing party.”
Phang noted that McIver cannot accept pro bono legal representation as a member of Congress. McIver’s mounting legal fees are expected to exceed $1 million, The New York Times reported in April.
In August of this year, a divided panel of U.S. Court of Appeals judges declined to dismiss the case against McIver, whose attorneys argued the Justice Department’s prosecution was “selective and vindictive” and that she has criminal immunity for acts connected with her duties as a member of Congress.
“I fundamentally believe that the court got it wrong here. To protect the people, their elected representatives must be authorized to conduct oversight of the executive branch without fear of retaliation,” McIver said in a statement at the time.
She added, “I will not fold to this administration. We are exploring every possible option. The administration will not stop me from doing my job or standing for what is right. This is not over.”
In May, the congresswoman told PEOPLE she won’t let fear of the prosecution and the federal government dictate her choices.
“I always wanted to be a mother,” she said. “I have gone through many health issues over the past couple of years, with my reproductive health, and I wanted to continue to try to have a baby because it’s been a dream of mine. It’s my womb, it’s my business, and that’s why I continue to try to grow my family.”
But she also said she worries how the demands and stress of being prosecuted by the Trump administration, while representing the 800,000 residents of New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District, may affect her and her baby’s health.
Two days before giving birth, McIver was at a canvass launch in New Jersey’s Essex County, according to her Instagram and an event description.
“There are multiple layers that I’m dealing with,” McIver told PEOPLE, “to make sure that I’m taking care of myself, taking care of my baby, but also taking care of the people that I’m responsible for in the 10th congressional district.”
On Thursday, after giving birth, McIver expressed optimism for her future and families across the country.
“There really aren’t words to describe how blessed my family feels to welcome a new life into the world,” McIver said in the statement. “Getting the chance to raise a family is a priority and a delight for me, something I hope everyone who wants to, gets the chance to do.”
She expressed similar optimism in May when speaking to PEOPLE.
“We get to bring great humans into this world,” she said, “to change it, right?”
By: Joseph Konig
Source: People Magazine