Federal officials announced earlier this month that a large immigration enforcement operation carried out across New York resulted in more than 2,100 arrests during roughly a month of activity.
The effort was called Operation Rotten Apple and involved U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement along with other federal agencies. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said 2,197 people were taken into custody between July 27 and late August. Enforcement took place in New York City and in other areas around the state.
Officials said the operation included people with records involving violent offenses, sexual crimes and drug offenses. Some had previous convictions, while others had been arrested or accused of crimes.
Among the cases released by federal officials was Bogdan Detrovich Gren, a Ukrainian national whose record included murder, kidnapping and a weapons offense. Another person, Palvinder Singh of India, had previously been convicted of rape in Germany. Venezuelan national Carlos Mendez-Acosta also had a rape conviction.
There were several drug-related cases too. Chhun Kim Pril, a Cambodian national, had a drug trafficking conviction. Danilo Antonio Rodriguez of the Dominican Republic had been convicted in a heroin distribution conspiracy, while Honduran national Jorge Alphonso Diego-Martinez had a conviction connected to possessing drugs with plans to distribute them.
Other people identified by officials had been arrested on criminal accusations rather than convicted of the offenses listed. Colombian national Andreas Bernal Chiquito had faced allegations involving sexual conduct with a child. Noel Celestino Lopez Martinez, a Mexican national, had been arrested in a first-degree rape case.
The arrests have become another point of conflict between federal immigration officials and New York leaders.
Mullin criticized policies in New York that restrict cooperation between local agencies and federal immigration authorities. He said those rules make ICE officers’ jobs harder, especially when people are released from local custody instead of being transferred to federal agents. Federal officials said more than 13,000 people sought by immigration authorities had been released from New York jails.
Gov. Kathy Hochul questioned whether the operation was as focused on dangerous offenders as federal officials claimed. She argued that after previous immigration enforcement efforts, federal authorities are now also pursuing people who do not have criminal records.
Mullin acknowledged that a separate criminal conviction is not required for someone to face immigration enforcement. He said ICE can take action against people who are in the United States illegally even when they have not been convicted of another crime.
Money for law enforcement has also become part of the disagreement. Mullin argued that New York’s limits on cooperation with immigration authorities should affect the federal money it receives.
Hochul is seeking $87 million from the federal government for policing and counterterrorism work. She said units receiving that money have helped with 145 major law enforcement cases, leads or efforts across 10 states during the last three years.
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