DHS Secretary announces 2,100 arrests in New York immigration operation

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested approximately 2,100 individuals in a targeted New York operation called Operation Rotten Apple, carried out over the past month. Multin said the individuals were arrested because New York City has a mayor who refused to cooperate with federal law enforcement and because the city and state's sanctuary policies allowed them to remain in the city. According to Fox News, Mullin criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for saying ICE raids are "cruel, inhumane, and do nothing to protect public safety," and specifically bashed Gov. Kathy Hochul for terminating 287(g) agreements, which allow local police departments to coordinate with federal agents. Multin highlighted specific arrestees to illustrate the enforcement action. One was a 39-year-old Indian national with an INTERPOL red notice out on him for an alleged rape he was charged with in Germany. Another was a 50-year-old Ukrainian citizen with a lengthy criminal history including convictions for kidnapping, abduction, possession of a weapon and murder, according to Fox News reporting. Mullin claimed New York's Democratic politicians have successfully lobbied for the release of over 13,000 illegal immigrants and stated that seven of the safest cities in the country cooperate with ICE and the 287(g) program. He said that restoring law and order is supported by 80 percent of the public across party lines and warned that the federal government is willing and able to send more federal agents into New York and other cities where leadership refuses to cooperate with federal law and immigration enforcement. Data released by the Deportation Data Project presents a different picture of ICE enforcement more broadly. According to PBS NewsHour, ICE arrests jumped to nearly 50,000 in July, but more than half of those arrested had not been convicted of any crimes and were not facing criminal charges. The discrepancy between Mullin's depiction of the Operation Rotten Apple arrests and the broader arrest data raises questions about how representative the highlighted cases are of the full operation. New York's leadership responded immediately. Gov. Hochul and NYC Mayor Mamdani held their own press conference at the same time as Mullin's, telling reporters that the Trump administration was withholding 87 million dollars in counterterrorism funding to New York, according to PBS NewsHour. The Bottom Line: