The only way to save a basket of apples from becoming corrupted by rotten ones is to take out the bad fruit, which is exactly what the Department of Homeland Security did in August 2026, through the work of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) putting “Operation: Rotten Apple” into action, leading to a total of 2,100 illegal aliens being arrested during the month.
A statement from DHS revealed that ICE arrested 2,100 individuals in the country illegally, including a large number of drug traffickers, child rapists, and murderers. “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,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said during a recent press conference.
Mullin spoke with reporters, saying that officers with the agency took 2,197 people into custody between July 27 and August 28 during the implementation of “Operation: Rotten Apple,” an obvious play on New York City being called “The Big Apple.” He also said that these dangerous criminals were apprehended without any help or assistance from local and state police agencies.
According to a report from Breitbart News, among those arrested was Colombian national Andreas Bernal Chiquito, who has a lengthy rap sheet that includes arrests for sexually assaulting children. Plavinder Singh, an illegal alien from India who was also captured by ICE, was convicted of rape in Germany. A third man in the bunch, Carlos Mendez-Acosta, an illegal alien hailing from Venezuela, was also previously convicted of rape, a press release from DHS revealed.
During the press conference, Mullin expressed his frustration with Democrats in New York who keep passing laws at both the local and state levels that ultimately provide protections for dangerous illegal alien criminals against deportation. “We won’t let sanctuary politicians stand in our way. If you’re a state or local politician, your best bet is to cooperate with us so we can all make America safe again,” Mullin said.
However, Democrats continue to make it more difficult for federal officers to do their job and apprehend criminal illegal aliens. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul helped to push through a piece of legislation called the “Local Crimes, Local Cop Act,” that was signed in May 2026 and went into effect on August 25. The law forced a number of the state’s county sheriffs to cancel their cooperation agreements with ICE.
It also prohibits local law enforcement authorities from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. Fifteen county sheriffs have banded together to file a lawsuit against the state over the law. New York City has put additional rules in place to stop police from working alongside ICE. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, signed a bill that bars ICE from operating out of Rikers or any other correctional facility in the city.
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President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan put New York Democrats on full blast for protecting criminals. “Democratic politicians in New York and elsewhere say that they care about public safety, but won’t let immigration law enforcement officers into their jails to take criminals into custody. Instead they release them to their streets,” he said, going on to add, “It makes no sense.”
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video