The East Brentwood Fire Department said it revoked the title of honorary chief from Assemb. Phil Ramos, days after he accused personnel of another local department of working while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents used their parking lot to carry out enforcement operations.

In a letter addressed to Ramos and published on social media Thursday night, East Brentwood Fire Chief Bryant Figueroa and 1st Assistant Chief Frankie Vasquez said Ramos' "recent public actions and statement have placed an unfair and dangerous spotlight on our volunteer brothers and sisters ... [His] words have unjustly attacked the men and women who risk their lives to protect our neighbors every day."

"We don't take this decision lightly, but we can't allow politics or false narratives to endanger or divide our department," the statement said.

In a statement issued Friday, Ramos (D-Brentwood) said he has "no issue" with losing the "symbolic title" bestowed upon him "in recognition of years spent securing investments in equipment and technology" for the East Brentwood Fire Department.

"In a fire department already struggling to recruit volunteers, it boggles the mind that they would choose to make their firehouses places of fear, rather than places that welcome and protect immigrant families," Ramos' statement said.

The East Brentwood Fire Department's announcement came about one week after Ramos’ office was informed of ICE agents using the parking lot of the Brentwood Fire Department's Broadway firehouse, according to a statement published on Ramos’ social media. His office later confirmed that this occurred while that firehouse remained open and staffed by department personnel.

Ramos, who is the deputy speaker of the state Assembly, called on the Brentwood Fire Department to launch a public investigation into the incident at a news conference on July 6.

"While our neighbors go to work, while our kids go to school, while our families try and live in peace, ICE is launching raids from our very own firehouse ... in a town that is over 70% Latino, in a fire department that is largely made up of Latino firefighters," Ramos said then. 

Figueroa told Newsday that both local and federal law enforcement often utilize fire department parking lots while firefighters are on duty. Local fire departments do not work for or with ICE, he added, and have no control over which law enforcement agencies use their property or for how long.

"It would be the same way if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used the Long Island Rail Road parking lot ... so now the Long Island Rail Road is working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement?" Figueroa said. "We’re low-hanging fruit. This fight should have been with the federal government, not with the fire department."

The East Brentwood chief said that Ramos’ words have induced only more fear in the community and that community members are afraid to call 911 during an emergency for fear they will be detained. Figueroa also said the accusations could negatively impact the department's recruiting numbers.

"I want to give everyone the best care possible. But when they're scared to call 911, or don’t want to give us their real name, or give us their medical history ... they're thinking that their information [will be passed along] to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement," Figueroa said.

A statement from Islip Forward, an immigration watchdog organization that spoke alongside Ramos on July 6, said members of the organization tried calling the chair of the Brentwood Board of Fire Commissioners about the matter but whoever answered hung up the phone.

"Let us be clear. We are not protesting firefighters. We are protesting silence. We are protesting complicity. The threat is not from those standing up for their neighbors. It is from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement using local institutions to target families," the statement said.