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Backlash mounts after Boston University student claims credit for Allston ICE arrests
“I care deeply about America, American workers, and our future. My only goal has ever been to keep this country strong and safe,” Zac Segal said Friday.
Facing online attacks after he took credit for calling federal immigration officials before a raid at Allston Car Wash, a Boston University student defended his actions and said his goal was to “protect my community and uphold the rule of law.”
Zac Segal, the president of the Boston University College Republicans, previously wrote on social media that he’d been “calling ICE for months on end” before the Nov. 4 raid, which saw nine car wash workers detained.
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All nine employees rounded up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had work permits but allegedly weren’t given an opportunity to retrieve the documents from their lockers, Boston.com previously reported.
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An attorney for the workers decried Segal’s actions as “disgusting and un-American,” while Allston Car Wash labeled his decision “reckless and distressing.” Comments flooded in under Segal’s original post on X, branding him “racist,” “bigoted,” “fascist,” and far more graphic terms.
But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had another word for Segal: “Patriot.” And in a lengthy statement posted online Friday, Segal wrote, “I reported suspicious activity to law enforcement because that is what any American should do.”
Though an online BU athlete profile lists his hometown as London, England, Segal clarified he was born in Florida and raised abroad.
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“I’m an American … and I chose to come back home because I believe in the opportunity and freedom this nation offers,” he wrote.
Segal further alleged that “extremists” have circulated his personal details online and sent him death threats.
“No matter who you are or what you believe, threats and intimidation are unacceptable and should be condemned by everyone,” he wrote. “I care deeply about America, American workers, and our future. My only goal has ever been to keep this country strong and safe.”
Yet while Segal earned praise from the Department of Homeland Security, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied the Nov. 4 ICE operation was the result of his tip.
“The operation was highly targeted and relied on law enforcement intelligence—not a silly rumor,” she said in a statement provided to Boston.com.
Still, Segal continues to face backlash at BU and beyond.
The women of the Boston University College Republicans have since condemned Segal’s actions and called for his removal from power.
“We will no longer affiliate with BUCR until an apology is issued and new leadership is provided,” they wrote in a statement obtained by student newspaper The Daily Free Press.
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Separately, the Allston-Brighton Democratic Socialists of America are organizing a rally outside BU Monday night to show solidarity with the detained Allston Car Wash workers. The Back Bay Young Democratic Socialists also advertised a Nov. 21 rally to make Boston University a sanctuary campus, further alleging Segal, BU leadership, and the Trump administration have all, “in one way or another, been complicit in ethnic cleansing.”
Back Bay Young Democratic Socialists was one of several organizations to circulate an email template demanding BU administrators sanction Segal.
Melissa L. Gilliam, the university’s president, acknowledged community members’ concerns about Segal’s social media post, though she did not say whether BU will take any disciplinary action.
“The University seeks to support the safety and well-being of all members of its community, which includes providing support to those who are distressed by this situation, as well as ensuring the safety of all others,” Gilliam said in a statement.
“We must affirm the dignity and worth of all people,” she continued. “Too often, we fail to see one another’s full humanity, overlooking the rich complexity and unique gifts each person brings. When we focus only on differences—skin color, political views—we risk fostering division and pain where there should be unity and understanding.”
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