New Jersey congresswoman LaMonica McIver faces legal deadline after giving birth to second child

A US congresswoman who just gave birth to a baby girl faces a deadline this week on whether to seek a rehearing of a federal case against her by the Trump administration after an oversight visit to an immigration detention facility.

LaMonica McIver, 40, represents New Jersey’s 10th congressional district. She gave birth to her second child last Thursday – a rarity for a sitting member of Congress. She is only the 15th member of Congress to give birth while serving and part of a small subset of congresswomen who have school-age children.

McIver first won her seat during a special election in mid-2024, then won a full term later that year. She is also running for re-election this year.

In announcing the birth of her second child after publicly discussing fertility struggles, McIver called being a mom “one of the greatest joys of my life”.

“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 said in a statement last week. “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.”

In late August, a federal appeals court declined to dismiss criminal charges against McIver, who is charged with interfering with an arrest in May 2025 outside Delaney Hall, an immigration detention facility that has drawn protests over poor conditions inside. She is the only member of Congress whom the Department of Justice has indicted, and the charges carry a potential 17 years in prison.

She has pleaded not guilty to the charges and sought to get them dismissed, arguing that she is immune from prosecution under the US constitution’s speech and debate clause because she was doing her job and that she has been selectively prosecuted by the Trump administration.

McIver and her legal team will need to decide by 9 October whether to seek a rehearing or en banc hearing before the third circuit court of appeals in New Jersey in the case, basically a further review of the case by the full appellate court. She could also ask the US supreme court to consider the appellate court’s decision, or let the case go to trial.

McIver previously told the Guardian that the case against her is part of a pattern of intimidation and retaliation by the Trump administration against those who disagree with the president or try to hold him accountable.

“This is about intimidation. It’s about bullying,” McIver said last year. “It’s about trying to stop our level of government from having oversight and holding this administration accountable.”

Charging documents in the case noted that people, including members of Congress, surrounded Newark mayor Ras Baraka outside Delaney Hall to prevent his arrest and alleged that McIver shouted “hell no” repeatedly. The Washington Post, after analyzing video from many angles, said McIver “made contact with at least two agents” in the scuffle, but that it was “difficult to discern the force of the contact and to what extent it was intentional or the result of the chaotic moment”.

In a radio interview in September, McIver described the situation outside Delaney Hall that day as “very chaotic, very scary”, noting that armed federal agents were surrounding her and her congressional colleagues.

She called the charges “dangerous for all members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, not just for me”.

McIver has spoken about the challenge of doing her job, managing the case and fundraising to pay for legal fees as a relatively new member of Congress, especially while pregnant and caring for her older daughter, who is 10.

In a profile with Elle magazine, McIver said that she “couldn’t put the world on pause” while contending with her legal case and her dream of another child.

“Now, instead of just running for reelection – which, to be fair, I am also doing – I spend my days writing bills about bringing down energy costs and protecting food stamps, and my nights talking to lawyers about how to keep standing up to ICE without being sent to prison,” she told Elle.

Members of Congress do not get paid parental leave, McIver noted in her announcement, adding that she plans to return to voting in November after taking October to heal and spend time with her new baby.