United employee threatens to call ICE on American: “Not acting like a citizen”

A United Airlines employee appeared to threaten to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on a passenger, saying he did not “act like a citizen,” according to a videos shared on social media.

The passenger, Julio Varela, told KQED that the confrontation occurred at the airline’s counter at San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday. Varela, a Mexican Americana and naturalized U.S. citizen, told the outlet that the employee’s conduct was unprovoked.

“Maybe we should call ICE on you,” the uniformed employee says in a clip posted by KQED. When Varela asked the employee to repeat herself, she replied: “Maybe you need to be, because you don’t act like a citizen. Get away.”

United Airlines told the outlet that it was “looking into the interaction.”

Newsweek has contacted Varela via social media and the airline via email for further comment.

Increasing ICE Presence at Airports

The incident comes amid renewed scrutiny of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the tactics used by ICE agents, after three people died during encounters with federal immigration agents within a week.

It also comes amid growing fears of immigration enforcement at airports and other transit hubs. Earlier this week, video footage of two plainclothes ICE agents tackling a man at the airport in Las Vegas drew outrage and criticism from elected officials.

Ticketing Problem

Varela told KQED that he arrived at the airport with his wife and two daughters hours before their flight to Montreal, where his wife was attending a work conference.

He said they spent almost three hours in the airport trying to resolve a ticketing problem with a United Airlines flight operated by Air Canada.

He said his wife had accidentally entered their daughter’s middle name in the last name field when booking the flight, and had spent about 15 hours on the phone trying to fix the error in the weeks before the flight.

He said that Air Canada employees had been trying to help, but needed United to release the ticket in their system. He said just minutes before he and his family were supposed to board the flight, an Air Canada supervisor came to the United counter but the employee the supervisor spoke to was dismissive.

‘I’m Not Dealing With This’

“She said, ‘I’m not dealing with it, it ain’t my problem,’” Varela told KQED.

“That is when I was like, man, you’re so lazy, so rude. And she was like, ‘Why are you calling me this?’ I go, ‘Yeah, what’s your name?’ That’s when I pulled out my phone.”

The video posted by KQED shows the employee refusing to give her name and later recording the encounter with her phone.

“He’s not flying,” she can be heard saying. Later, another employee attempted to intervene and asked Varela if he wanted the police to be called.

“No. I want ICE, like she said,” Varela replies.

He told KQED that his family made their flight after another United employee intervened and released the ticket.

But he said he hoped the employee in the video would be fired and that he is considering pursuing legal action.

“I am Mexican. I was born in Mexico, I am a U.S. citizen. I own my own business. I pay taxes. I employ people,” Varela said.

“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.”