A United Airlines employee got into a heated exchange with a traveler at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The July 14 incident, which the passenger recorded and whose video subsequently went viral, showed the employee threatening to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the man. She also told the traveler, who is a U.S. citizen, “you don’t act like a citizen.”
Recently, passengers at the airport — where United has the largest market share — have faced more difficulties due to increased delays and cancellations caused by ongoing runway construction. This latest incident appeared to occur at the airline’s check-in counter at the airport. Now, United Airlines has responded following the employee’s threat.
United Airlines Responds To Employee’s ICE Threat At SFO
United Airlines confirmed it is investigating the incident.
“We’re looking into the interaction in this video, but don’t have anything additional to share at this time,” the airline said in a statement to TheTravel.
The argument began when Julio Varela, 54, and his family were at the Bay Area airport attempting to correct an error on one of his daughters’ tickets for their flight to Montreal. Varela told KTVU that he had been bouncing between the Air Canada and United Airlines desks trying to resolve the issue.
After three hours, Varela said he encountered the customer service representative with whom he got into the heated exchange.
“I said, ‘Well, my wife made the mistake, but we’ve been trying to correct it, so that’s what we’re here for, so you could help us,’” he recited in an interview with CBS News.
Varela said that she told him, “Well, I don’t care if you fly or not.”
He then requested her name, which he said she refused, and that’s when he took out his phone and started filming her. In his video, the employee can be seen with her phone out, appearing to record him as well.
“Maybe we should call ICE on you,” the employee said in the video.
She then told him, “You don’t act like a citizen.”
Varela told CBS News that he and his family are all U.S. citizens.
More Information On United Airlines Incident At San Francisco Airport
Varela further argued with the employee, calling her racist and asking to see her name tag, which she didn’t show him. The video ends with her appearing to push Varela back with her hand holding her phone.
“Don’t touch me,” he said.
Varela called the employee’s words “dehumanizing,” highlighting the current state of immigration enforcement in the U.S.
“For her to say that at her place of employment is completely shocking and degrading and dehumanizing, and intimidating because what’s going on with ICE and how they deal with people, whether they’re citizens, whether they’re not citizens, whether they’re white, whether they’re women, nurses or mothers,” Varela told KTVU.
He told ABC News that his “jaw dropped” after she said he was not behaving like a citizen.
“I was shocked and immediately I was angry,” Varela said.
Varela identified himself as Hispanic and Mexican, telling the outlet that the ICE threat troubled him.
“If she is going to have the gall to say ‘I’m going to call ICE’ on a Hispanic person, Mexican, and to say that in San Francisco…” he said.
Fortunately, the troubling situation had a happy ending. Varela said that he and his family were eventually able to make the trip to Montreal and back to the Bay Area. He also said that United Airlines issued him a private apology for the incident.
The altercation went viral on Reddit, with many people weighing in and calling out the employee’s behavior.
Reactions To United Airlines Employee Incident At San Francisco Airport
In a post on a subreddit dedicated to the Bay Area, the video garnered thousands of interactions.
The post states, “This happened yesterday at San Francisco International airport. United employee was rude and dismissive with customer so he asks for her name to report her. The employee pulls out her phone and starts to record the interaction. At that moment she says “Maybe we should call ICE on you. You’re not acting like a citizen”. Whatever the fuck that means… Customer is an American citizen.”
Several people took to the comments to share their thoughts, with some calling on the employee to be fired over the incident.
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“Threatening ICE is so cruel,” one person wrote. |
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“I don’t know what happened before the recording started, but she is about to be out of a job. You don’t go there,” another person added. |
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“Regardless of what happened, what kind of customer service is this?” one person questioned. |
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“Get her fired,” one person wrote. |
It remains unclear whether the employee will face any repercussions from United Airlines over the incident. But her threat comes amid ICE arrests becoming increasingly frequent, and airports aren’t an exception. ICE has been working alongside the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to facilitate arrests at airports, according to a late 2025 New York Times report.
Around the time of this interaction, a video went viral at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), which serves Las Vegas, in which plain-clothed ICE officers restrained a passenger on the ground. Travelers stepped in, and the officers walked away. The man, 57-year-old Phu Nguyen from Vietnam, was later arrested at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), according to ICE.
While the threat against Varela was empty due to his being a U.S. citizen, undocumented immigrants can face real challenges when trying to do something as simple as catching a flight.
