A United Airlines employee at San Francisco International Airport threatened to call immigration authorities on a Northern California father during a confrontation over a ticketing issue at the airline’s counter.
The July 14 incident was captured on video by the passenger, Julio Varela of San Ramon, who was trying to correct a ticketing error for his daughter before a family trip to Montreal, Canada. Varela said the customer service representative refused to help fix their daughter’s ticket, which had incorrectly listed her last name as her middle name due to an error his wife accidentally made when booking the flight a few months ago.
Varela noted that a different United representative had advised them by phone to arrive at SFO early Tuesday so airport customer service could fix the error. After waiting nearly three hours, Varela said an employee from a United partner airline was close to resolving the issue, but a United worker stepped in and dismissed them.
“She walks over and says, ‘What, you’re still here? We already told you we can do this,’ and she just starts complaining about it,” Varela said. “She said, ‘I don’t care. That’s her problem. Take it up with her. I don’t care if you guys fly out today or not.'”
Frustrated by the interaction, Varela pulled out his phone and asked for the employee’s name to report her. He said the worker refused to identify herself, pulled out her own phone to start recording, and threatened to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In the viral video, the employee can be heard saying, “Maybe we should call ICE on you.”
When Varela asked her to repeat the statement, she replied, “Maybe you need to be, because you don’t act like a citizen. Get away.”
Varela expressed disbelief over the encounter.
“It infuriated me, because I am a citizen, number one, and for her to threaten me like that with ICE, especially with the state of politics now in America and with what ICE is doing,” he said.
The confrontation also escalated physically, according to Varela. After a brief back-and-forth, the video shows the employee’s hand reaching toward the camera before Varela’s phone goes dark. Varela alleges the employee hit his hand and his phone.
“When she pushed me, I squeezed it, so then I turned it back on again,” he said.
In a statement, United Airlines said it was investigating the incident but declined to comment further.
A spokesperson for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the employee’s union, said the organization is aware of the video but has not yet verified its authenticity.
“As depicted, the comments made in the video do not reflect the views or values of the IAM Union,” the communications director stated. “Any potential matters arising from this incident will be handled through the appropriate processes established by the collective bargaining agreement.”
San Francisco International Airport officials have not responded to requests for comment.
