If a relative of yours was detained in New York over the past weeks, the first thing you need is not the operation’s headline number but what procedural situation that specific person is in. Two people arrested the same day can face entirely different deadlines and options.
At Campos Law Firm, we closely monitor developments in U.S. immigration policy to protect our clients’ rights and future. Below, we explain what the government announced, what it left out, and what can be done.
What is happening?
On September 1, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the end of Operation Rotten Apple, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation that ran from July 27 to August 29, 2026. The figure given by Secretary Markwayne Mullin was 2,197 arrests, spanning not only New York City but Long Island, the Hudson Valley, and upstate.
The government framed the operation as a response to sanctuary policies. “These individuals should never have been on our streets,” Mullin said. Kenneth Genalo, director of ICE’s New York field office, called the operation “precise and effective.”
It coincided with the August 25, 2026 effective date of the state’s Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which bans 287(g) agreements between local agencies and ICE. Governor Kathy Hochul said in announcing it that New York needs “local police focused on keeping our communities safe—not serving as de-facto ICE agents.”
Were these really people with criminal records?
This is the central question, and the honest answer is: we do not know, because DHS did not publish it.
Neither the press release nor the press conference included a breakdown of how many of the 2,197 had convictions, pending charges, or neither. The government illustrated the operation with three individual cases, but three cases are not a statistic.
The independent national data point in a different direction:
- According to TRAC at Syracuse University, as of July 11, 2026, 70.6 percent of people detained by ICE nationwide had no criminal conviction.
- Researcher Austin Kocher, using Deportation Data Project figures, found that in July 2026 more than half of those arrested had no criminal record at all.
- A Cato Institute analysis using November 2025 data found 73 percent with no conviction and only 5 percent with violent convictions.
A methodological warning is due: those figures are national, not specific to this operation. No independent breakdown of the 2,197 exists yet. What can be said rigorously is that the operation took place within a national pattern in which most people arrested have no convictions, and that DHS provided no data placing Rotten Apple outside that pattern.
Where the arrests happened, and why it matters
It matters a great deal, because the legality of an arrest can turn on it.
On May 18, 2026, federal judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York barred ICE from making civil immigration arrests at Manhattan’s three immigration courts — 26 Federal Plaza, 290 Broadway, and 201 Varick Street — and their surroundings, concluding the agency never had legal justification for the practice. The order allows narrow safety exceptions.
Despite that order, at least six arrests at those courts were documented, and the judge demanded explanations from ICE. There is also separate litigation, brought by the ACLU and NYCLU, over detention conditions at 26 Federal Plaza.
If your relative’s arrest happened at or near one of those courts, there is a direct argument that it was unlawful. That is the first thing an attorney should ask.
What to do if a relative was detained
- Get the A-number and locate the person: the ICE locator is at locator.ice.gov, searchable by A-number and country of birth, or by full name, date of birth, and country. It can take 24 to 48 hours or longer to update, and longer still after large operations.
- Check facilities out of state. People detained in New York are frequently transferred to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and a transfer changes which court hears a habeas petition. Speed matters.
- Find out whether a prior removal order exists. If there is one and the person re-entered without authorization, the government can reinstate it (section 241(a)(5)): no new hearing before an immigration judge, no bond, and removal can happen within days. What remains is the reasonable fear interview. This single fact changes the entire strategy.
- Ask about bond. The general rule (section 236(a)) allows a custody redetermination hearing before an immigration judge. But certain convictions trigger mandatory detention (section 236(c)), and since 2025 the government has argued that people who entered without inspection have no access to bond at all — a position backed by the Board of Immigration Appeals and still contested in federal court.
- Consider habeas corpus (28 U.S.C. § 2241) where there is no access to an immigration judge, where detention drags on without justification, or where the arrest violated a court order.
- Sign nothing without an attorney. Especially Form I-826, which contains the voluntary departure box, stipulated removal, and Form I-871 for reinstatement. Do ask for and keep the Notice to Appear (Form I-862).
- Find representation: New York has NYIFUP, a legal representation program for detained immigrants, along with organizations such as the New York Immigration Coalition and Make the Road New York. The city offers free immigration legal help through 311.
Protect Your Family with Campos Law Firm
An operation’s headline number says nothing about an individual case. What decides the outcome is whether a prior order exists, what the record shows, where and how the arrest happened, and how fast someone acts in the first days.
At Campos Law Firm we locate the person, review the file, and move on whichever route applies. Do not leave their immigration status to chance. Call us today at +1 (844) 922-6767 to schedule a free, confidential consultation in English or Spanish. Campos Law Firm: Legal Solutions in All Areas of Law.
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