The Department of Homeland Security reported on Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 2,100 illegal migrants in August in New York, including 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,” said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin at a Tuesday press conference.

Mullin told reporters that agents arrested 2,197 people between July 27 and Aug. 29 as part of “Operation Rotten Apple.”

During the press conference, Mullin noted that these dangerous criminals were taken into custody with no help at all from local or state police agencies, PIX11 reported.

Arrests included Colombian national Andreas Bernal Chiquito, who has past arrests for sexually assaulting children, Palvinder Singh, an illegal migrant from India who was convicted of rape in Germany, and Carlos Mendez-Acosta, a Venezuelan migrant convicted of rape, DHS said in a press release.

Mullin expressed his frustration with New York Democrats who continue to pass laws at local and state levels to protect dangerous illegal alien criminals from being deported.

“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 added.

Democrats, though, continue to make it harder for federal officers to arrest criminal illegals. Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul recently helped push through the Local Crimes, Local Cop Act, which went into effect on August 25. The new law forced the state’s county sheriffs to cancel their contracts with ICE through the 287(g) program, and it bars them from cooperating with immigration authorities. Fifteen county sheriffs are now suing the state over the law.

The City of New York has also added more rules to prevent police from working with ICE. In January, communist Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed a bill into law barring ICE from operating out of Rikers or any other city correctional facility.

Trump administration border czar Tom Homan also blasted New York Democrats 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, adding, “It makes no sense.”

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