Full story
Operation Rotten Apple
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “Operation Rotten Apple” resulted in the arrests of 2,197 illegal aliens across the state of New York, with the operation running from July 27 to August 29.
“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”
In New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley and upstate counties, Mullin said the arrests were made in a monthlong operation that he described as targeting people including those convicted of murder, rape and drug trafficking.
Mullin framed the crackdown as a response to New York’s sanctuary policies, saying “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.”
Border Czar Tom Homan said ICE’s efforts to remove public safety threats “has contributed to the largest decrease in violent crime in American history,” while ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo said the operation was “deliberate, precise, and grounded in the lawful execution of our public safety mission.”
Competing claims on records
While Mullin’s press conference emphasized criminality, ABC7 New York reported Gov. Kathy Hochul questioned whether federal authorities were “going after innocent people. People who are not committing crimes,” as she challenged the scope and focus of the arrests.
Hochul also said she was seeking $87 million in federal funding for police enforcement and counterterrorism efforts, while Mullin argued that New York’s sanctuary provisions make enforcement more dangerous because of what he described as a lack of cooperation between federal agents and local police.
In a separate framing, AZ Family said data analyzed by The New York Times showed ICE arrested a record 43,000 people in June and 49,000 in July, and that less than 4% of people arrested by ICE in July had past violent criminal convictions.
The City Reporter added that a DHS press release said 2,197 immigrants had been detained between July 27 and Aug. 29, while it also noted that the release included photos and criminal histories of 10 of those people and provided no further details on the thousands more the agency said it had arrested.
Funding, detention, and escalation
The dispute over immigration enforcement spilled into federal funding and counterterrorism resources, with Audacy reporting that Hochul and Mamdani criticized the Trump administration for withholding $87 million in federal counterterrorism funding from New York days before the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“withholding $87 million in federal counterterrorism funding from New York”
Audacy also reported that the Department of Homeland Security cut New York’s Homeland Security Grant Program allocation by $187 million last year, and that New York recovered $100 million following a federal court order, leaving $87 million outstanding even after President Donald Trump said in October that he had reversed the cuts.
On the enforcement side, WXXI News reported that plans move forward to erect a 100-bed “temporary detention structure” at the Buffalo Service Processing Center in Batavia, expanding the only ICE detention facility upstate.
WXXI News also said government data showed four of every five upstate cases involved people with no criminal history, while it quoted a DHS spokesperson saying the agency could not comment on the “source, accuracy, or completeness" of the data and that “The bottom line is that the Deportation Data Project is not accurate.”