{"id":5403,"date":"2026-07-20T23:28:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T23:28:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/07\/20\/united-airlines-says-it-will-look-into-workers-threat-to-call-ice-in-viral-video\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T23:28:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T23:28:44","slug":"united-airlines-says-it-will-look-into-workers-threat-to-call-ice-in-viral-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=5403","title":{"rendered":"United Airlines says it will \u2018look into\u2019 worker\u2019s threat to call ICE in viral video"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-14sl0e4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-17l77cs\">\n<figure id=\"53957509-c6a8-47ae-b8d4-9d21d55eb9d1\" class=\"dcr-191xnya\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a white and blue united airplane in air\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/ad9e72401efb4512f1667f3cf786acd37894f6e2\/0_0_6987_4658\/master\/6987.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"310\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><span class=\"dcr-kogzpx\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-18mnkpm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1294qmb\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-4sl2vt\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1mfxiaj\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">A United Airlines aircraft takes off from Los Angeles international airport on 19 July in Los Angeles, California.<\/span> Photograph: Weston Hancock\/SOPA Images\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"53957509-c6a8-47ae-b8d4-9d21d55eb9d1\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-qda0hp\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1e9iiy9\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">A United Airlines aircraft takes off from Los Angeles international airport on 19 July in Los Angeles, California.<\/span> Photograph: Weston Hancock\/SOPA Images\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-ql9l8l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6mja0y\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-l0wuod\">United Airlines says it will \u2018look into\u2019 worker\u2019s threat to call ICE in viral video<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1xpojbf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1gm5ptv\">\n<p>United staffer told customer \u2018you don\u2019t act like at a citizen\u2019 during incident over wait time at San Francisco airport<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-x1al2c\">\n<div class=\"dcr-11gq2tx\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-1w2vkyc\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-ogvvui\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/united-airlines\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">United Airlines<\/a> is \u201clooking into\u201d a viral video showing a United Airlines employee threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/ice-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">ICE<\/a>) on Mexican American man at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/san-francisco\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">San Francisco<\/a> international Airport last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The scene erupted after Julio Varela of San Ramon grew upset at United Airlines staff for taking a long time to correct an error his family made when entering his daughter\u2019s name to buy a ticket for flight to Canada, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/united-airlines-employee-threatens-call-ice-bay-area-family-sfo-rcna588343\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">according to NBC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">After three hours of waiting and a sour exchange with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/united-airlines\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">United Airlines<\/a> staffer, Varela pulled out his phone and demanded the woman to identify her self.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cI\u2019m asking for your name so I can report you,\u201d Varela said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8Sn0TpRc-yo\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">video<\/a> that has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/unitedairlines\/comments\/1uxtduk\/united_airlines_threatens_to_call_ice_on_customer\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">attracted wide attention<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The United staffer responded by pulling out her own phone and recording him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cMaybe we should call ICE on you,\u201d the woman replied. \u201cYou don\u2019t act like a citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Ramon, who is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/travel\/article\/united-employee-ice-passenger-sfo-video-22349786.php\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">naturalized citizen<\/a>, grew still more angry after that comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cCall ICE on me, lady,\u201d the man says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The two then trade volleys, with Varela repeatedly saying \u201csay it again\u201d as she responds: \u201cGet out my face.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cUnited Airlines has a racist customer service lady!\u201d Varela yells. \u201cShe\u2019s lazy as hell!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Another United Airlines staffer can be seen sighing and rolling her eyes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cWe\u2019re looking into the interaction in this video, but don\u2019t have anything additional to share at this time,\u201d the airline wrote in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Varela <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=we9LVuRy5_k\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">expressed concern<\/a> about possibly being detained by ICE upon his return to the United States from Montreal, despite being a US citizen. But nothing happened when he returned, according to NBC News.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-swayiu\"><span class=\"dcr-1xhbmzr\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-2c03t5\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-p7nd18\">\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/san-francisco\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">San Francisco<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/business\/united-airlines\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">United Airlines<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/world\/air-transport\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Air transport<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/ice-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/usimmigration\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">US immigration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/california\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">California<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/west-coast\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">West Coast<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-313bdz\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=United%20Airlines%20says%20it%20will%20%E2%80%98look%20into%E2%80%99%20worker%E2%80%99s%20threat%20to%20call%20ICE%20in%20viral%20video&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jul\/20\/united-airlines-san-francisco-airport-ice-threat?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-ncybeu\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-19bkree\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fjul%2F20%2Funited-airlines-san-francisco-airport-ice-threat&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/jul\/20\/united-airlines-san-francisco-airport-ice-threat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-1c41onw\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1kq7f60\"><span class=\"dcr-1ryr20k\"><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A United Airlines aircraft takes off from Los Angeles international airport on 19 July in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}