Breaking
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced Sept. 1 that Operation Rotten Apple, a monthlong immigration enforcement surge that ran from July 27 to Aug. 29, resulted in more than 2,100 arrests across New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley. Mullin described the operation as targeting “the worst criminals” in the state and said of those arrested, “these individuals should never have been on our streets.” ICE Field Office Director Ken Genalo, who helped lead the operation, called it “precise and effective” and said the results were personal to him.
The announcement doubled as a direct attack on New York’s Democratic leadership. Mullin said Operation Rotten Apple “was initiated because New York City has a liberal, socialist mayor,” referring to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whom he accused of trying to “cut NYPD’s budget by $22 million and refused to cooperate with federal law enforcement.” He also criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul, saying the governor “refuses to work with us.”
Details & Background
Mullin, a former U.S. senator from Oklahoma, was confirmed by the Senate as DHS secretary in March 2026, replacing Kristi Noem. He tied Tuesday’s announcement to New York’s termination of 287(g) agreements, the federal-local partnerships that allow trained local officers to carry out certain immigration enforcement functions under ICE supervision. Rensselaer County had been the only New York county still operating under a 287(g) agreement before the statewide ban took effect Aug. 31. Mullin claimed New York Democratic politicians have facilitated the release of more than 13,000 people in the country illegally by declining to hold them for ICE.
DHS framed Operation Rotten Apple as a model for how the administration plans to respond when local governments decline to cooperate: surging federal personnel directly into a state rather than relying on local jails to turn people over. Mullin warned the administration would deploy additional federal personnel to New York if local officials continue to refuse cooperation with immigration enforcement. DHS separately argued that “seven of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE,” warning that New York’s ban would mean a more visible federal presence in communities that decline to partner with agents.
Reactions
New York’s Democratic leadership has consistently defended its sanctuary policies as protecting community trust in local police, arguing that local law enforcement’s job is to focus on local crime rather than civil immigration enforcement — the same rationale Hochul cited when she signed the 287(g) ban into law earlier this year. Mamdani has been a vocal critic of ICE’s tactics in New York since taking office, casting immigration raids as harmful to immigrant communities that make up a large share of the city’s population.
Outside reporting on the operation has also raised questions about how DHS characterizes those arrested. While Mullin’s announcement emphasized violent offenders, independent reporting on the operation noted that DHS did not release a breakdown of how many of the 2,100 people arrested had violent criminal histories versus civil immigration violations only. That reporting pointed to broader national ICE detention data showing that, as of July 2026, 70.6% of the 65,765 people held in ICE custody nationwide had no criminal convictions at all.
Why This Matters to You
Operation Rotten Apple is a preview of how the administration plans to handle sanctuary states going forward — larger, time-limited federal surges rather than relying on local cooperation that Democratic-led states like New York and others have moved to restrict by law, a pattern that’s likely to repeat in other blue states this fall.
With New York’s statewide 287(g) ban now in effect and Mullin pledging more personnel if cooperation doesn’t improve, expect continued friction — and likely additional large-scale operations — between the Trump administration and blue-state sanctuary jurisdictions heading into the midterm elections this November.
