A confrontation at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) went viral last week after a United Airlines (UA) employee threatened to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on a passenger during a dispute over a ticketing error. The incident happened on July 14 at the United counter as San Ramon business owner Julio Varela tried to fly to Montreal, Canada, with his wife and two daughters, NBC News reported.
The trouble began weeks earlier, when Varela’s wife accidentally entered their daughter’s middle name into the last name field while booking through United for a flight operated by Air Canada (AC). The family says they spent roughly 15 hours on the phone over two weeks trying to fix the error before their trip.
The Three-Hour Wait Before the Confrontation
Varela and his family arrived at SFO several hours early on July 14 to sort out the ticket problem before their flight to Montreal. Staff sent them back and forth between the United and Air Canada counters for nearly three hours while trying to fix the error.
An Air Canada employee was close to resolving the issue when a United worker stepped in and dismissed the family, telling them she did not care whether they made their flight. Varela said the comment frustrated him enough that he called the employee “rude” and “lazy” to her face. A different United representative ultimately corrected the ticket, and the family made their flight to Montreal.
The ICE Threat Caught on Video
Frustrated by the exchange, Varela took out his phone and asked the employee to identify herself so he could file a complaint. The employee refused, pulled out her own phone to record him, and said, “Maybe we should call ICE on you.”
When Varela asked her to repeat the statement, she replied that he did “not act like a citizen.” Varela, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Mexican descent, called the remark hateful and said he hoped the employee would lose her job over it, because people “can’t normalize racism.”
The video, posted to Reddit, spread quickly across social media and drew coverage from national outlets. Footage shows the employee wearing a badge identifying her as a steward with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the union that represents United’s passenger-service staff.
United Airlines and the Union Respond
United Airlines issued a short statement after the video circulated, saying it was reviewing the interaction but had nothing further to share. Varela said a United representative briefly contacted him by email to hear his account, but the airline later stopped responding.
The IAM union confirmed it was aware of the video but had not verified its authenticity or the full context of the exchange. A union spokesperson said the comments shown “do not reflect the views or values of the IAM Union” and that any discipline would follow the process set out in the collective bargaining agreement.
SFO officials have not commented publicly and have directed inquiries to United Airlines.
A Second SFO Case Fuels Wider Fear
This is not the first incident to raise immigration enforcement fears at SFO this year. In March, plainclothes ICE agents detained a Contra Costa County mother, Angelina Lopez-Jimenez, and her nine-year-old daughter in the airport’s Terminal 3, and the pair were deported to Guatemala within 48 hours.
The Department of Homeland Security said the mother and daughter had an outstanding removal order dating to 2019 and that the mother resisted officers during the arrest. California state senator Scott Wiener said federal agents were “terrorizing” the family, while Mayor Daniel Lurie called the incident isolated.
Varela said the earlier case was on his mind when the United employee mentioned ICE, given how much attention immigration enforcement has drawn across the Bay Area over the past year.
How This Fits United’s Recent Run of Controversies
The SFO confrontation is the latest in a string of incidents that have put United Airlines under public scrutiny this year. In May, a United Boeing 737 clipped the tail of a parked ANA Cargo 777 while taxiing at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), grounding both aircraft for inspection.
United has also faced internal friction with newer staff this year. The airline tightened enforcement of its reserve-duty policy for new-hire flight attendants, leading to discipline and some dismissals for workers accused of missing reserve shifts.
Unlike those stories, the SFO incident centers on a single front-line employee rather than an operational or safety failure. But it lands at a moment when United is already fielding criticism over how it treats both staff and passengers.
What Travelers Are Watching Next
Several questions remain unresolved as of this week:
- Whether United Airlines will name or discipline the employee involved.
- Whether the IAM union will confirm the video’s authenticity.
- Whether SFO or federal officials will address growing traveler concern about ICE activity at the airport.
Varela said neither United nor SFO contacted his family to reassure them before their return flight from Montreal on July 18, leaving him uncertain what to expect at the border. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen when I get back,” he said. The family landed back in San Francisco without further incident.