ICE arrests nearly 2,200 illegal immigrants in New York under 'Operation Rotten Apple'

Federal agents arrested 2,197 illegal immigrants across New York in a month-long operation that netted convicted murderers, rapists, and child predators, all without any help from state or local law enforcement.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced the results of "Operation Rotten Apple" at a press conference Tuesday, naming the operation after what he described as a state rotted by sanctuary policies that shield criminal aliens from federal immigration officers. ICE carried out the arrests between July 27 and August 29, the New York Post reported, targeting individuals with violent criminal records living freely in New York communities.

Among those arrested: a Ukrainian national named Bogdan Detrovich Gren, who DHS says has convictions for murder, kidnapping, abduction resulting in death, and criminal possession of a weapon. Palvinder Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, was convicted of rape in Germany before making his way to New York. Carlos Mendez-Acosta, a Venezuelan migrant, also carries a rape conviction. And Andreas Bernal Chiquito, a Colombian national in the country illegally, has past arrests for sexual conduct against a child and injuring a child under 17.

These are the people New York's sanctuary apparatus chose to protect from ICE.

Mullin pins the blame on Mamdani and Hochul

Mullin did not hold back about who he holds responsible for the federal government's need to conduct a large-scale enforcement sweep with zero local cooperation. He pointed directly at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul, both of whom signed legislation this year that severely limits local law enforcement from working with ICE.

Mamdani signed Executive Order 13 shortly after taking office in January, reinforcing what his office called protections against "abusive immigration enforcement" by the Trump administration. He followed that with additional legislation making it even harder for city agencies and police to cooperate with federal immigration officers. Hochul, for her part, pushed through a state law preventing state police from partnering with federal immigration authorities and barring ICE agents from most public places, including hospitals and parks.

The result, Mullin said, is a state where convicted killers and child predators walk free because local officials refuse to hand them over.

Mullin told reporters at the press conference:

"These arrests included gang members, rapists, murderers and child predators, which I believe there is a special place in h*** for those individuals."

He followed that with a direct shot at the mayor's judgment. Mamdani, Mullin said, "is extremely out of touch with what the American people want and what public safety actually looks like."

The pattern of sanctuary jurisdictions shielding dangerous criminals from ICE is not unique to New York. Sanctuary city policies have drawn national scrutiny in cases where illegal immigrants with prior arrests were released rather than turned over to federal agents, sometimes with fatal consequences.

DHS says 13,000 criminal aliens roam New York streets

Beyond the 2,197 arrests, DHS offered a broader figure that frames the scale of the problem. The department claims that New York's sanctuary policies have resulted in more than 13,000 criminal aliens being released back onto the state's streets, people who, under normal cooperation between local and federal law enforcement, would have been transferred to ICE custody.

That number represents a population of individuals with criminal records whom state and city officials chose not to detain for federal pickup. DHS characterized New York's stance as "radical sanctuary policies," a label Mullin reinforced by contrasting the city's posture with the work ICE agents did on their own.

In a statement released alongside the press conference, Mullin put it plainly:

"Operation Rotten Apple did what sanctuary politicians in New York City and the state of New York refuse to do: made the Empire State safer."

The operation fits within the Trump administration's broader push to ramp up interior enforcement. ICE has dramatically accelerated its arrest pace across the country, and New York's resistance has made it a focal point for federal action.

Homan calls out the double standard on public safety

Trump administration border czar Tom Homan issued his own statement, zeroing in on the gap between what New York Democrats say about public safety and what their policies produce. Breitbart reported that Mullin also warned sanctuary politicians directly: "We won't let sanctuary politicians stand in our way. If you're a state or local politician, your best bet is to cooperate with us so we can all make America safe again."

Homan's statement cut to the core contradiction:

"Democratic politicians in New York and elsewhere say that they care about public safety, but won't let immigration law enforcement officers into their jails to take criminals into custody, instead they release them to their streets."

That contradiction, claiming to prioritize safety while actively blocking the agents tasked with removing convicted violent offenders, sits at the center of the federal government's case against sanctuary jurisdictions. It is not an abstract policy disagreement. It is a disagreement measured in murder convictions, rape convictions, and child victims.

Cases like that of an illegal immigrant released at the border and later charged with murdering a Virginia mother illustrate what happens when enforcement gaps persist and dangerous individuals remain in American communities.

Mullin floats cutting federal dollars to sanctuary states

Asked whether the federal government would send more agents to New York, Mullin answered with a single word: "Absolutely." He then expanded on the logic driving that decision.

"Because they refused to work with us... we will send as many people as we have possible to make sure we are restoring law and order."

But Mullin went further than pledging more boots on the ground. He raised the prospect of a financial penalty for states and cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, a move that would escalate the standoff between Washington and blue-state capitals.

"I don't think we should be sending one federal penny to sanctuary states and sanctuary cities. And I know President Trump is looking at options there. In my opinion, I don't think taxpayer dollars from the great people of Oklahoma or any other red state should be funding a state that embraces these criminals like New York."

What specific options the administration is weighing remains unclear. But the framing is deliberate: taxpayers in states that cooperate with federal law enforcement are subsidizing states that obstruct it.

Just The News reported that Mullin described the operation as targeting the "Worst of the Worst" illegal aliens, and characterized it as part of the Trump administration's broader mass deportation agenda. Mullin told reporters that the individuals arrested "should never have been on our streets" and blamed "radical left sanctuary states" for protecting them.

Meanwhile, local officials who enabled these policies have faced their own scrutiny. In other jurisdictions, court clerks have faced federal charges for allegedly helping illegal aliens dodge ICE arrest, a sign that the federal government is willing to pursue obstruction at every level.

2,197 arrests, zero local cooperation

Operation Rotten Apple ran for roughly a month across New York State. ICE agents carried out every arrest without assistance from New York City police, state troopers, or any local agency. Mullin attributed the need for the operation directly to the legislation signed by Mamdani and Hochul, laws that, in his telling, forced the federal government to act alone in a state where convicted murderers and rapists were walking free.

The 2,197 figure includes individuals with convictions for murder, rape, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and child sexual assault. S1 does not specify how many of the total arrests involved individuals with violent criminal records versus other immigration violations, and DHS did not break the number down publicly at the press conference.

Mullin pledged that more operations would follow. The federal government, he said, would keep sending agents as long as New York's leaders refuse to cooperate.

When a state's elected leaders spend their political energy shielding convicted rapists and murderers from the agents trying to remove them, the problem is not federal overreach. The problem is who those leaders decided to protect, and who they left unprotected.