Key facts
- United Airlines is investigating an incident involving an employee and a passenger.
- The employee threatened to call ICE on a Mexican American passenger.
- The passenger is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
- The incident occurred after a dispute over a ticketing error at San Francisco International Airport.
- The airline confirmed it is looking into the video.
United Airlines is investigating a viral video that shows an employee threatening to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on a Mexican American man at San Francisco International Airport. The incident occurred last week after Julio Varela, a passenger from San Ramon, became upset with airline staff over a prolonged wait to correct an error in his daughter's name on a flight ticket to Canada.
According to NBC News, Varela waited for three hours and had a contentious exchange with a United Airlines staffer. He then began recording the employee, demanding her name for a report. In response, the staffer pulled out her own phone and stated, "Maybe we should call ICE on you. You don’t act like a citizen."
Varela, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, became more incensed by the comment and challenged the employee to call ICE. The exchange escalated with Varela accusing the staffer of racism and laziness. Another United Airlines employee was observed reacting with a sigh and eye-roll.
"We’re looking into the interaction in this video, but don’t have anything additional to share at this time," United Airlines said in an emailed statement. Varela had expressed concerns about potential detention by ICE upon his return to the United States from Montreal, but NBC News reported that nothing occurred when he arrived back.