United Airlines says it is investigating a viral video that appears to show one of its employees threatening to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on a passenger at San Francisco International Airport. Multiple outlets report the incident occurred last Tuesday at SFO. In the video, the employee is heard making comments directed at a man during a dispute related to delays and ticketing issues.
According to reporting summarized by the outlets, Julio Varela, described as a Mexican American father from San Ramon, became upset after United staff took time to correct an error his family made while entering his daughter’s name when purchasing tickets for travel to Canada. The disagreement escalated, and the man later said the employee’s comments were demeaning.
United Airlines has not publicly confirmed the full details of what was said or the employee’s intent, but it states it is “looking into” what happened. CBS News and The Guardian describe the incident as involving a threat to call ICE, while the Los Angeles Times characterizes the exchange as demeaning. The investigation is ongoing.
