‘You’re not acting like a citizen’: United passenger says employee threatened to call ICE during SFO ticket dispute
A California man says he worries about returning home United Airlines The employee allegedly threatened to report him to immigration authorities during the ticket dispute. san francisco International Airport (SFO).
According to NBC Bay Area, San Ramon resident Julio Varela said: californiasaid the incident occurred on July 14 when he, his wife and two daughters were traveling to Montreal, Canada.
Family says ticket issue led to conflict
Varela said the family arrived at the United check-in counter around 8:15 a.m. to board the 11:40 a.m. flight to resolve an issue with their daughter’s ticket, which had her middle name listed in the last name field. people.
After nearly three hours of waiting, agents from partner airlines were close to resolving the issue, but a United employee stepped in and fired the family. “She came over and said, ‘What, you’re still here? We told you we could do this,’ and she started complaining. She said, ‘I don’t care. That’s her problem. Work it out with her. I don’t care if you guys fly out today,'” Varela said. nbc news.
Frustrated, Varela pulled out his phone and asked the employee for his name. In the widely seen video, the employee says, “Maybe we should report you to ICE.” When Barrera asked her to repeat it, she said, “Maybe you need to do that because you’re not acting like a citizen. Go away.”
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Varela calls ICE rhetoric racist, accuses assault
“It angers me because I’m a citizen, first and foremost, that she would threaten me with ICE, especially given the current state of politics in the United States and what ICE is doing,” Varela said, according to NBC News.
He also told People magazine, “I’m Mexican. I was born in Mexico and I’m a U.S. citizen. I own my business. I pay taxes. I hire people. For her, especially with what’s going on in the United States right now… to say something like that to minorities, especially Hispanics, I think it’s really, really hateful and really racist.”
Varela said the conflict also turned physical. The video shows the employee reaching for the camera before Varela’s phone goes black. He claimed the employee hit him in the hand and cellphone. “When she pushed me, I squeezed it and then I reopened it,” he said, according to NBC News.
Varela added, “Every time I get on a plane, I think, ‘Are they going to let me in?’ … You could be a U.S. citizen born here. It doesn’t matter.”
What do United Airlines and the unions say?
“We are investigating the interaction in this video but do not have any additional information to share at this time,” a United spokesperson said.
The employee wore an identification badge identifying her as a member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union. A spokesperson for the union said, “We are aware of a video circulating online, but we are unable to verify its authenticity or full context. As shown, the comments in the video do not reflect the views or values ​​of the IAM Union. Any potential issues arising from this incident will be dealt with through the appropriate procedures set out in the collective bargaining agreement.”
