Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin came to New York City on Tuesday to announce the completion of “Operation Rotten Apple” after targeting 2,100 immigrants across the state for arrest in the past month, he said.
At a press conference inside U.S. Department of Homeland Security offices at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, Mullin lambasted Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a “liberal slash socialist mayor” and Gov. Kathy Hochul for refusing to work with DHS on immigration enforcement.
The secretary described those the agency had targeted as “gang members, rapists, murders, child predators” and “the worst of the worst,” but didn’t specify how many of those arrested had any criminal record.
The overwhelming majority of those arrested under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in New York City and nationwide have had no criminal record, according to available data. Of the more than 18,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in New York state since Trump took office, 66% were of people with no criminal history.
A DHS press release said 2,197 immigrants had been detained as part of the statewide effort between July 27 and Aug. 29. The release included photos and criminal histories of 10 of those people, providing no further details on the thousands more the agency said it had arrested.
A subsequent request for comment on how many of the 2,197 people had any criminal charges or convictions was not returned. ICE arrest data is not yet available for August, but Mullin’s figures on Operation Rotten Apple would indicate a 62% uptick in arrests from July, which was already the highest arrest tally under Trump’s second term.
ICE arrested 1,355 people across New York state in July, 1,034 of whom had no criminal history, according to ICE data obtained by the Deportation Data Project through a Freedom of Information Act request and subsequent lawsuits.
Arrests Circulate on Social Media
After New York lawmakers passed new restrictions on collaboration between local police and jails and immigration enforcement officials as part of this year’s budget, Trump border czar Tom Homan threatened to surge agents to New York. NewsNation, citing unnamed “sources,” reported the surge began in late July.
In the weeks since, photos and videos of agents making arrests across New York City have flooded social media and repeatedly showed some immigrant neighborhoods, including Queens’ Corona and College Point. The City Reporter in late August covered an apparent focus on drivers with out-of-state plates. In one confrontation, an agent pepper sprayed 72-year-old Linda Wolff who was trying to film agents in Inwood.
Asked about that incident at Tuesday’s press conference, Mullin said he wasn’t familiar with the case and didn’t know why she’d been pepper sprayed.
When queried about the agency’s overwhelming focus on immigrants with no criminal history, Mullin defended DHS’ arrest tactics.
“If you entered this country and you cheated — you didn’t come in the legal way, because there’s people entering this country every single day legally — does that not make you a criminal? Did you not break the nation’s laws?” he asked. “We don’t pick and choose which law we’re enforcing. We’re going to enforce the laws regardless.”
Most immigration violations are civil, not criminal, in nature, though the Trump administration has often argued otherwise.
Immigrant advocates slammed Mullin’s New York City appearance.
“Mullin is spewing lies from the podium as some sick attempt to manufacture a retribution campaign against a city for standing up to fascism,” said Hannah Stauss, co-founder of Hands Off NYC, a coalition of local groups organizing against ICE across the city. “We are not fooled. ICE is a rogue, violent agency acting with unchecked force that must be abolished.”
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