ICE Presence At LI Firehouse Sparks Fallout: Assemblyman’s Honorary Title Revoked

BRENTWOOD, NY — Fire chiefs are firing back at an assemblyman who protested against ICE's use of firehouses after their agents organized in a fire department parking lot in a predominantly Latino community on Long Island last week.

The controversy comes in the wake of ICE's detainment of immigrants across the United States, following the Trump administration's orders.

On July 3, ICE agents were seen using the parking lot of the Brentwood Fire Department's Broadway location as a "staging ground," according to community advocacy group Islip Forward. Yesterday, East Brentwood Fire Department officials announced the revocation of Assemblyman Phil Ramos' "Honorary Chief" title after he spoke at the July 6 protest on fire department property.

"The actions taken by the East Brentwood Fire Department are disappointing—but sadly, not surprising," Ramos said in a statement. "They reveal just how out of touch the department’s leadership is with the diverse and vibrant community it is meant to serve."

On Thursday, East Brentwood Fire Department chiefs Bryant Figueroa and Frannkie Vasquez penned a letter to Ramos, viewed by Patch, that reads:

"Dear Assemblyman Ramos:

"On behalf of the Chiefs of the East Brentwood Fire Department, we write to you today with great disappointment and a heavy heart. The fire service is built on a foundation of trust, unity, and selfless service to our community. For decades, our volunteer firefighters have put their lives on the line without hesitation or concern for politics, personal beliefs, or social divisions. We protect and serve all residents equally-regardless of race, creed, national origin, or political affiliation.

"It is with deep regret that we must inform you that your honorary title of 'chief' will be revoked, and your name will be removed from the walls of the East Brentwood Fire House. This decision was not made lightly. However, your recent public actions and statements have placed an unfair and dangerous spotlight on our volunteer brothers and sisters. Rather than standing with us during a difficult time, your words and actions have fueled public mistrust and endangered the safety and reputation of those who serve selflessly and without political motive.

"We expect our community leaders, especially those we have honored with the title of Honorary Chief, to stand shoulder to shoulder with us in times of crisis and controversy–not to cast blame or sow division. Your recent conduct does not reflect the values we uphold or the brotherhood and sisterhood we share in the fire service.

"We remain committed to serving the Brentwood community with honor, courage, and dedication, and we will continue to protect our neighbors as we always have—with integrity and without prejudice."

Patch reached out to the East Brentwood Fire Department, which was not immediately available for comment.

According to Ramos, he received the letter when Chief Figueroa "stormed" into his office "unannounced and uninvited, ignoring repeated instructions" from his staff not to enter his private back office.

Ramos said that when the chief was "asked to leave" and told he wasn't "allowed in that part of the office," he responded by saying, "Then call the police. Call ICE."

After the video above allegedly showed ICE agents at the fire department began circulating, Sen. Monica Martinez quickly confirmed ICE's presence at the fire department on Friday, writing: "I have received several calls from constituents voicing their concerns in regard to reported presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel at one of the Brentwood firehouses."

Martinez also said that she "reached out to the leadership of the Brentwood Fire District to obtain clarification," and that its "leadership confirmed that ICE personnel were present at one of their facilities," but that they're "not collaborating with or participating in any federal enforcement operations."

Patch reached out to ICE and the Brentwood Fire Department several times, but they did not respond. Patch also reached out to Town of Islip officials, who said, "ICE inquiries should be directed to the Suffolk County PD." SCPD stated that all ICE inquiries should be directed to ICE.

On Saturday, Brentwood Fire District officials issued a statement viewed by Patch that said they have "no independent knowledge that ICE agents were present at a Brentwood Fire District Substation" and that they were "never contacted by any federal, state or local law enforcement agency or any other branch of government regarding the use of any parking lot at any fire district location."

Community advocacy group Islip Forward also participated in the July 6 protest.

IF's executive director, Ahmad Perez, told Patch earlier this week that the Brentwood Board of Fire Commissioners "has both the authority and the obligation to end this." Perez said that under N.Y. Town Law § 176(19), "commissioners hold exclusive management and control of all fire-district property."

"We reached out to department leadership for dialogue. They hung up on us," Perez told Patch. "That silence speaks volumes. Leadership is stonewalling while rank-and-file firefighters—many from the very communities ICE is targeting — are left to shoulder the fallout."

Perez said Forward is making the following demands to the Brentwood Fire District Board of Commissioners:

1. Issue a formal directive prohibiting any non-emergency federal use of Brentwood Fire District facilities and parking lots.
2. Publicly confirm compliance with that directive so residents can regain confidence in their stations.
3. Engage the community at the next board meeting to explain how they will prevent future misuse of district property.

Perez told Patch that his organization is "not protesting firefighters," but "protesting silence."

"It is about those in leadership who stayed silent when harm occurred. Who responded not with dialogue, but with retaliation," he added. What happened yesterday only underscores the concerns we have raised all along."

Perez said that what has the community concerns is that the fire department "said nothing, no explanations and no reassurance to residents."

"But when community residents showed up to demand answers, joined by Assemblyman Phil Ramos, East Brentwood’s fire chiefs spoke up," Perez said. "Not to support the community. But to punish someone who did."

Meanwhile, Martinez stands by the fire department and their statement that they did not know that ICE would utilize their property.

"ICE's operations within our community put public safety at risk by performing its activities at locations such as our local fire departments, making their members targets of misinformation and community members scared to call for help," Martinez told Patch on Wednesday. "As made clear by the leadership of the fire districts, they were not informed in advance about the federal government's use of their site, and this situation should not be weaponized against our first responders for political purposes."

However, the El Salvador-born senator's loyalty to the fire district continues to anger community members such as Islip Forward, who issued a statement on social media on Thursday that said:

"Senator Monica Martinez immigrated to this country herself–but now sits in silence while immigrant youth are torn from their homes and deported by ICE." In the statement, they said she's offered "no support" while "her constituents are being targeted in broad daylight."

On June 11, Nuvia Martinez Ventura, a mother of five young children living in Brentwood, was detained at a routine immigration check-in at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City and sent to the Houston Contract Detention Facility, where she faces deportation, Amoachi told Patch.

In May, Columbia-born Suffolk County Community College student Sara Lizeth Lopez Garcia, 20, and her mother were detained by ICE and sent to a Louisiana detention center after a mistaken address led immigration agents to the door of their Mastic home, according to loved ones and professors familiar with the case.

Both women reportedly have no criminal background and Lopez Garcia's fiancé said she has an "active Special Immigrant Juvenile status," something East Islip-based immigration attorney Ala Amoachi told Patch is meant to protect her.

In late June, a lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York challenging Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman's agreement with ICE agents. It's the first lawsuit to take on the 287(g) statute in New York state, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union, which shared a copy of the suit on its site.

At issue is Blakeman giving the Nassau County Police Department a role in handling ICE activities, which includes having 10 detectives immediately join the ICE program he announced in February.