Boston University Student Brags About Calling ICE On Car Wash Employees

A Boston University student is at the center of a growing national controversy after publicly taking credit for triggering an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at an Allston car wash. 

According to reports, BU student Zac Segal repeatedly called ICE to report car wash workers he felt were “taking Americans’ jobs,” resulting in the detention of nine workers, many of whom had valid work permits. The move reignited discussions about the rise of white nationalists and nativism, emboldened racism, and the dangerous impact of political propaganda on young Americans.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Segal, who is also president of the school’s College Republicans chapter, bragged that he had spent “months on end” calling ICE to “detain these criminals,” before encouraging others to do the same. 

“As someone who lives in the neighborhood, I’ve seen how American jobs are being given away to those with no right to be here,” wrote Segal, who reportedly lists London, England, as his hometown. “Pump up the numbers!”

In a second post on X after the Boston Globe reported on the car wash arrests, Segal bragged about being in the paper and said, “We must stand up for this country.”

While Segal has reportedly declined to comment to local outlets, the damage has already been done. 

Following the traumatic detentions on site, Car wash manager José Barrera told reporters that nearly two dozen ICE agents arrived with subpoenas. The law firm representing the workers notes that the agents began arresting workers before they had the opportunity to retrieve their documents from the locker room, adding that some of the individuals detained had work permits, contradicting Segal’s claims that they were “criminals” with no legal right to employment.

“None of these people have criminal records. None of them were arrested for a crime,” Attorney Todd Pomerleau said. “It’s the most uncivilized response we’ve seen in the history of the United States.”

A woman related to three of the detained workers, including her father, aunt, and cousin, spoke to Boston 25 News through a translator, fearfully describing the profound terror their family is enduring under anonymity. 

“None of my three family members have any criminal history. Their only crime is being immigrants,” she said. “We came here to work, and instead, we are fighting racism day after day.”

Segal’s choice of words to frame immigrants as job-stealing invaders and heralding his actions as patriotic mirrors the exact rhetoric spewed by the Trump administration and its allies. It is messaging that dehumanizes immigrants, weaponizes fear, and encourages ordinary citizens to treat federal enforcement as an authoritative tool for settling political grievances or personal biases.

Segal’s act of amateur vigilantism highlights just how deeply right-wing extremist ideas have seeped into mainstream conservative youth organizations.

Even the Department of Homeland Security’s statement about the raid leaned heavily on sensationalism, peddling the arrests as a win for “the most secure border in American history.”

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin released the following statement last week following the incident:

“On November 4, ICE conducted a targeted immigration enforcement operation in Allston, Massachusetts, that resulted in the arrest of 9 illegal aliens including an illegal alien who chose to commit a felony by illegally re-entering the U.S. Three entered under the Biden administration, four were gotaways at the border, one entered illegally under W. Bush, and another overstayed his visa which expired under President Clinton. For decades, politicians left our borders wide open. Now, thanks to President Trump and Secretary Noem, we have the most secure border in American history.”

What happened in Allston is not an isolated incident—it is a symptom. It’s a real-world consequence of constant racist political rhetoric that turns neighbors into informants and ordinary workplaces into battlegrounds where immigrant families are collateral damage.

SEE ALSO:

Department Of Homeland Security Claims ICE Doesn’t Engage In Racial Profiling

ICE Reportedly Boosting Surveillance On Social Media