“Operation Rotten Apple did what sanctuary politicians in New York refuse to do: made the Empire State safer.
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DHS Names Its New York Immigration Sweep "Operation Rotten Apple" and Says It Ran It Because the City Elected a Socialist — 2,197 Arrests, and the Governor Answers That the Federal Government Counts "Anybody Who Crossed the Border" as a Criminal
September 1, 2026
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin came to Manhattan on September 1, 2026 to announce the results of a month-long ICE surge across New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley: 2,197 arrests between July 27 and August 29, in an operation the department named "Operation Rotten Apple." Mullin framed the sweep explicitly as a punishment for New York's politics rather than as routine enforcement, saying the operation was undertaken "because you have a very liberal-slash-socialist mayor here in New York City," calling New York a "crime-ridden city," and promising to send "as many people as we have possible" now that a new state law has forced local agencies out of 287(g) partnerships with ICE. Pressed on whether everyone arrested was a criminal, he answered that entering the country outside legal channels is itself the crime. Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani rejected the arrest tally at a competing press conference the same day, with Hochul saying there is "no way" that number reflects crimes as New York defines them and Mamdani defending the city's sanctuary policies as bipartisan in origin.
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“Operation Rotten Apple was an operation we decided to take on because you have a very liberal-slash-socialist mayor here in New York City.
“Regardless if you're a criminal or not, if you entered this country and you cheated, you didn't come in the legal way, because there are people entering this country every single day legally.
“We will send as many people as we have possible to make sure that we're restoring law and order.
“When you choose to take the shortcut, you have made a conscious decision to enter this country illegally and break our nation’s laws.
“There is no way that that number constitutes people committed crimes the way we consider a crime — a crime in New York state.
“Operation Rotten Apple got some of the worst criminal illegal aliens off New York streets.
“We are proud as New York City to be a city that has sanctuary policies. These are policies that used to be defended by Democrats and Republicans alike.