Employee told passenger ‘you don’t act like a citizen’
The incident began when Varela and his family were at SFO to fly to Canada. He grew upset after three hours of waiting for United staff to correct an error his family made when entering his daughter’s name on a ticket, according to The Guardian.
Varela pulled out his phone and demanded the employee’s name so he could file a complaint. The employee responded by recording him on her own phone.
“Maybe we should call ICE on you,” the woman said. “You don’t act like a citizen.”
“Call ICE on me, lady,” Varela replied. The employee then told him to “get out my face.” Varela repeatedly said “say it again” as she repeated the command, according to the video. Another United Airlines employee could be seen sighing and rolling her eyes.
United Airlines issued a statement: “We’re looking into the interaction in this video, but don’t have anything additional to share at this time.”
Varela expressed concern about possibly being detained by ICE upon his return to the United States from Montreal, despite being a U.S. citizen. Nothing happened when he returned, according to The Guardian.