As New York Moved to Curb ICE Cooperation, the Agency Arrested 2,100
Marisa Luisa Paul, USA Today, September 1, 2026
Standing beside placards displaying people arrested in a monthlong operation, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned New York’s leaders: If they won’t work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, federal agents will come into their communities instead.
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His remarks escalated a confrontation over New York’s efforts to disentangle local police from federal immigration enforcement. They also came days after a new state law forced local agencies to end their partnerships with ICE.
Mullin said “Operation Rotten Apple” resulted in more than 2,100 arrests across New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley and upstate New York between July 27 and Aug. 29. The operation ended four days after the new law took effect.
It also followed months of warnings from the Trump administration that limiting cooperation would bring more federal agents into New York.
In June – two weeks after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the “Local Cops, Local Crimes” Act – White House border czar Tom Homan said he had reviewed an operational plan to fulfill a pledge he made to her if New York restricted local partnerships with ICE.
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The department highlighted several people convicted of serious crimes, including murder, kidnapping, rape, robbery, drug trafficking and sexual offenses against children.
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Mullin cast the operation as a rebuke to Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, both Democrats. He accused them of making New Yorkers less safe by releasing 13,000 noncitizens despite ICE detainers, which are requests that local agencies hold people temporarily so federal officers can take custody of them. He called all 13,000 “criminals” but did not provide documentation, identify the period covered or distinguish between convictions and pending charges.
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New York’s Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, signed in May, prohibits state and local agencies from entering into or maintaining 287(g) agreements. The 12 agencies already participating were given until Aug. 25 to unwind them.
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