NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The Trump administration said it arrested more than 2,100 immigrants across New York in a monthlong operation, intensifying a fight with state and city leaders over their refusal to more closely assist with the federal immigration crackdown.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters on Tuesday that the arrests were made from July 27 through Aug. 29 in New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley and upstate counties. Those detained in what officials dubbed Operation Rotten Apple included people convicted of murder, rape and drug trafficking, according to Mullin, who provided no further breakdown of the arrests.
ICE data for New York in July show that of the about 1,567 arrested, more than 75% had neither criminal convictions nor pending charges.
Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin stands silently during a press conference at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) NY field office on September 01, 2026 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Mullin criticized Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, both Democrats, and other officials over sanctuary policies, which limit when local authorities can cooperate with ICE. He faulted them for not participating more broadly in 287(g), a federal program that allows local law enforcement agencies to perform some immigration-enforcement duties.
“I don’t think we should be sending one federal penny to sanctuary states and sanctuary cities,” Mullin said.
Hochul, speaking at a separate event with Mamdani on Tuesday, said New York City has never had a 287(g) agreement and that the state notifies ICE when undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes are being released. “We are not a sanctuary state for criminals,” she said.
Mamdani also defended the city’s policies, saying immigrants are more likely to report crimes and cooperate with police if they don’t fear that doing so could expose them to immigration enforcement.
The immigration dispute has spilled into a parallel fight over federal counterterrorism funding. Hochul and Mamdani appeared together to criticize 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.
The money helps fund NYPD intelligence analysts and counterterrorism operations, FDNY radiological response capabilities, the National Guard’s Joint Task Force Empire Shield and bomb squads across the state, according to Hochul’s office.
The Department of Homeland Security cut New York’s Homeland Security Grant Program allocation by $187 million last year, citing sanctuary policies. 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.
Hochul called the remaining reduction political retaliation and said the federal government hadn’t told New York that restoring the money depended on changing its immigration policies.
“We’re not aware that there’s a connection between our policies and these funds,” Hochul said. “They’re just withholding our funds.”
Asked on Tuesday whether DHS was prepared to send additional federal agents to New York, Mullin said “Absolutely.”
“We will send as many people as we have possible,” he said.
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