A United Airlines employee at San Francisco International Airport threatened to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement on a Mexican-born American citizen, telling him he does not act like a citizen during a ticketing dispute that was captured on video and has since gone viral.
Shocking Exchange Caught On Camera
Julio Varela, a naturalized US citizen and San Ramon business owner, filmed the confrontation on Tuesday while attempting to resolve a ticketing problem before boarding a flight to Montreal with his wife and two daughters. The uniformed United employee can be heard saying, “Maybe we should call ICE on you,” before adding, “Maybe you need to be, because you don’t act like a citizen. Get away.” The video quickly spread across social media platforms, drawing widespread criticism and accusations of racism.
Varela, who owns his own business and employs others, told reporters he believes the employee’s comments were hateful and racist, particularly given the current political climate surrounding immigration enforcement. “I am Mexican. I was born in Mexico. I am a US citizen. I own my own business. I pay taxes. I employ people,” he explained. “For her, especially with what’s going on right now in America, to say that to a minority, especially a Hispanic person, I think it’s really, really hateful and it’s really racist.”
Hours-Long Ordeal Over Name Error
The confrontation stemmed from a booking error when Varela’s wife accidentally entered their daughter’s middle name in the last name field while purchasing tickets. The family spent approximately fifteen hours over two weeks on the phone with United trying to correct the mistake, but the issue remained unresolved by their departure date. After nearly three additional hours at the airport attempting to fix the problem, Air Canada successfully rebooked three family members but required United to update the daughter’s ticket information.
Varela admitted he began recording after the employee dismissed their concerns and refused to provide her name when requested. Additional footage shows him repeatedly asking for identification while calling her lazy and rude. The situation escalated as he called her racist and threatened legal action. According to Varela, the employee eventually approached him and pushed his hand away, causing the recording to stop. He later acknowledged on social media that he lost his temper and could have handled the situation differently.
Company and Union Response
United Airlines issued a brief statement saying they are looking into the interaction but have nothing additional to share at this time. The employee’s badge appears to identify her as a union steward with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents United passenger service employees. The union stated they are aware of the circulating video but cannot verify its authenticity or full context. The incident has reignited debates about customer service standards and appropriate conduct by airline employees representing major carriers.
He was rude (as he admits he should of handled it differently) then she was rude. Neither were correct. Doesn’t matter the race of anyone, rude is rude
As long as the Individual is a US Citizen and is documented the United Employee was definitely out of line. Was the employee fired?
If I had not been an airline employee for over 30 years I might feel bad for Varela! But let’s face it, passengers as a whole are assholes and don’t deserve special treatment!
So you think 15 hrs. on the phone and three hrs. at the airport trying to resolve an issue that doesn’t seem that complicated is special treatment? I’m guessing if you had been on the other end of that treatment you might wind up acting like the term you called most passengers. I hope you were a baggage handler. Because you sound like you would have been a terrible customer service agent.
Without passengers you wouldn’t have a job those 30 years.
Treating someone with respect is not special treatment, it’s common human decency !
Your comment explains why people react to you in kind. The AH here claims to have been an airline employee for 30 years.
this is why id dont fly anymore, the passengers and most of the employees act like ingrates.
That has happened to me and can happen to anyone. I made a little mistake with the name once. I ended up going home and fix it and took a flight a
Couple days later
But this guy was out of line. We live with Mexicans here in California and no reason to profile them.like that
What if she called ice they come try arresting him then they kill him like there doing..all for asking to correct info..thats not racist for say I’ll call ice ?
As a retiree from a major airlines I assured everyone this is not the customer service the majority of airline employees give. The agent was totally out of line. I have to say the gentleman handled it much better than I probably would have. I have never understood why some employees balk at giving their names. The company knows exactly who was working where & when.
Allowing people with tickets containing false information on flights is dangerous. Should have called air marshal to resolve. No way to know if child was being human trafficked or was young terrorists.
The United employee was out of line. Mr. Varela or his wife spent 15 hours to fix a problem that United did not fix. At the ticketing station tempers flared but customer service employees are supposed to be trained to diffuse these type of situations. Threatening to call ICE was so wrong. Call security or the police but ICE?? This lady sounds racist.