Bay Area Family Worried About Detainment After United Airlines Employee Threatened to Call ICE

What Happened?

A family from the San Francisco Bay Area was flying back home to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) with worries still on their minds. Why? Because a video that lots of people watched online showed a United Airlines worker threatening to call immigration officers on them during an argument about their plane tickets.

Important Point: The family is afraid they might be detained (held by authorities) when they return, even though they say they are U.S. citizens.

Meet the Family

• Julio Varela lives in San Ramon (a town in the Bay Area).
• He was traveling with his family of four.
• They were coming back from Montreal, Canada, on a Saturday night.
• Neither the airport nor United Airlines has called his family to say, "Don’t worry, ICE won’t detain you."

ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Think of them as the government team that handles immigration rules.

Before his flight home, Varela said:

“I don’t even know what’s going to happen when I get back to San Francisco. I don’t know what’s gonna happen when I get back.”

How Did the Trouble Start?

The problem began on July 14 at the United Airlines desk at SFO. The family was leaving for a trip to Canada.

Here is what went wrong, step by step:

1. Varela’s wife made a small mistake when booking the flight months ago.
2. She accidentally put their daughter’s last name in the middle-name spot on the ticket.
3. A different United worker told them by phone to arrive early at SFO so the desk could fix it.
4. They waited almost three hours.
5. A worker from a partner airline was about to fix the mistake.
6. Then a United Airlines employee stepped in and told them to go away.

Varela said the United worker told them:

“What, you’re still here? We already told you we can do this… 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.”

The Scary Threat on Video

Varela was upset. He took out his phone and asked for the worker’s name so he could report her.

• The worker would not give her name.
• She took out her own phone and started recording him.
• She threatened to call ICE.

In the video many people saw, she said:

“Maybe we should call ICE on you.”

When Varela asked her to say it again, she said:

“Maybe you need to be, because you don’t act like a citizen. Get away.”

Varela said this made him very angry because:

• He is a U.S. citizen.
• He felt it was wrong to threaten him with ICE, especially with today’s political climate and what ICE is doing in America.

Things Got Physical

Varela says the argument also turned into a small physical clash.

• The video shows the worker’s hand moving toward the phone, then the screen goes dark.
• Varela says the worker hit his hand and phone. He calls this an assault (when someone hurts or touches you in a harmful way).
• He said: “When she pushed me, I squeezed it, so then I turned it back on again.”

What Did the Airline and Others Say?

• United Airlines gave a short statement:
  

  “We’re looking into the interaction in this video, but don’t have anything additional to share at this time.”

• The employee’s union (IAM Union) said they know about the video but haven’t checked if it’s real. Their communications director said:
  

  “As depicted, the comments made in the video do not reflect the views or values of the IAM Union. Any potential matters arising from this incident will be handled through the appropriate processes established by the collective bargaining agreement.”
  (A collective bargaining agreement is just a formal work rulebook for the union and company.)

• San Francisco International Airport has not answered questions about the event.

Back Home — Now What?

The Varela family’s plane was supposed to land in San Francisco on Saturday night. At the time of the report, no one knew if they would face more trouble at the airport.

Summary

A Bay Area family had a bad experience at a United Airlines counter when a worker threatened to call ICE over a ticket name mistake. The moment was caught on video and shared widely. The family, who are U.S. citizens, flew home worried they might be detained. United Airlines is looking into it, the union says the comments don’t reflect their values, and the airport hasn’t commented. The family’s safe return was still uncertain at the time of writing.

FAQ

1. What is ICE?
ICE is short for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They are the government group that deals with immigration and customs laws.

2. Why was the family’s ticket wrong?
Varela’s wife accidentally typed their daughter’s last name in the middle-name box when she booked the flight months earlier.

3. Did United Airlines apologize?
Not yet. They said they are looking into the video but have no further comment right now.

4. What does the union think?
The employee’s union says the video’s comments do not show what they believe in, and any issues will be handled through their work agreement rules.

5. Was anyone hurt?
Varela says the worker hit his hand and phone during the argument, which he says was an assault, but the main worry was the ICE threat.