We have had our moments, of course.
There was Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University grad student from Turkey who was abducted by ICE thugs because she'd co-authored an editorial that appeared in the college newspaper. The op-ed decried what's going on in Gaza and urged Tufts to divest in Israeli companies and acknowledge that (in the authors' opinion) what's going on in Gaza is genocide. She was ill-treated and bounced around the country before finally being released. Last month, she was told that she can resume her research.
In December, there was a swearing in ceremony at Faneuil Hall - the home of free speech, the Cradle of Liberty. This is the final step in which folks become naturalized citizens, and it's a big deal. New citizens often bring family and friends, and it's all quite celebratory. Until December, when those from countries on the latest government shitlist were pulled out of line and told they weren't going to be able to take the citizenship oath. These were folks who had gone through all the steps in the process, including passing the knowledge test that 99% of native-born citizens probably couldn't pass, and going through a rigorous background check. Not clear when and if they're going to be officially sworn in and handed their citizenship papers, or whether the government has other plans for them. Not that it matters to the government. They got what they wanted out of it, which was the cruelty to people from elsewheres that aren't white and/or Christian.
In the Boston area, people have been dragged from their cars, dragged from their homes, dragged from Home Depot parking lots, and transported to wherever, but nothing at the scale we've seen elsewhere.
But in November, there was an ICE raid on an Allston car wash that grabbed nine workers. Allston is a Boston neighborhood, heavily populated by students. One of those students, the president of the Boston University College Republicans, jumped right on social media to grab credit for the raid, claiming that he'd been after ICE for months to "detain these criminals." Shortly after the raid, Zachary Segal posted this on X. “This week they finally responded to my request,” Segal wrote. “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.”
“Pump up the numbers!” he added. (Source: Boston Globe)
It goes without saying that many of those picked up "hold legal status and valid work permits, according to their attorney, who said they have no criminal record to warrant deportation." And it further goes without saying that there aren't exactly a ton of Americans lining up for these so-called American jobs.
This is a pretty liberal town. BU is a pretty liberal school.
So no surprise that Segal's tweet got a lot of blowback. (And some support from right wingers, just not enough to outweigh those who thought Segal was out of line.)
ICE says that, in conducting their raid, they weren't responding to Segal's complaints, they were doing it on their own. Because they could. And because it's a lot easier to round up folks who's only crime is being here than it is to take down the savage killers, drug dealers, and gang members that they maintain make up most of the "no papers" immigrant community.
There are no doubt some who will find that Zachary Segal is righteous rather than self-righteous, a young man of sterling character rathen than a weaselly little prick, someone they want to be around rather than avoid. After all, Stephen Miller managed to find a wife who's as odious as he is.
But I'm thinking that a lot of possible dates are going to google Zachary Segal and put him on their "must avoid" list. And that, while he sounds like a book-smart kid from a well-to-do family who will have at least a few job opportunities - there are plenty of fellow-travelers out there; maybe Elon Musk or Jared Kushner will hire him - there are going to be plenty of companies who'll take a pass. Companies where he might want to work. They'll decide that he's nasty, unlikable, a creep. Not worth interviewing because who wants to invite nasty creepiness into the workplace.
He's only a kid, but serves him right if this happens.
As I said, he'll no doubt find a partner, no doubt find a job. Things have a way of working out.
But for a long while I'll bet he's going to be wondering whether the date who ghosted him did so because of his diming "criminals" who work hard wiping water off of windshields. He'll be wondering whether his resume didn't get a look at a workplace he felt he was ideal for because of his boasting tweets.
I could be wrong. If the bad guys stay in control for a longer time than I hope and pray, Zachary Segal may be on a glide path to personal and career success, and the opposition will be exiled to some gulag.
But it's interesting to note that Rumeysa Ozturk's:
...research area of interest centers on children's and adolescents' positive development in a media-embedded, digitally connected global world. Her dissertation will investigate how adolescents and young adults use social media in prosocial ways. (Source: Tufts. Italics are mine.)
Maybe she'll be interviewing Zachary Segal as part of her research.
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