Video appears to show United employee threaten to call ICE on customer

9 hours ago 10

A United Airlines worker appears to person been caught connected video threatening to telephone U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement connected a lawsuit during a ticketing quality past week astatine San Francisco International Airport.

East Bay nonmigratory Julio Varela, who was traveling with his family, told CBS News Bay Area that the incidental began erstwhile an employee, who has not been identified, was rude and dismissive to him astatine the summons counter. When the 54-year-old Varela asked for her sanction to study her, helium said she refused, truthful helium pulled retired his telephone to grounds her and the worker aboriginal did the same.

The video of the enactment caught connected Varela's phone, which has gone viral since being uploaded to Reddit and different societal media platforms, shows the worker holding up her telephone successful beforehand of her look arsenic Varela tries to get her name.

"Maybe we should telephone ICE connected you," the worker is heard saying.

From down the camera, Varela says, "You're going to telephone ICE connected me?" As helium tells the worker to repetition herself, she tin beryllium heard adding, "Maybe you request to be, due to the fact that you don't enactment similar a citizen. Get away."

"I was truthful shocked, I was angry," Varela said. "It's intimidating, due to the fact that my kids didn't know, you know, if erstwhile we get back, are we, americium I going to beryllium arrested? Is ICE going to beryllium there?" helium added.

Varela, his woman and 3 daughters are each U.S. citizens. They had been astatine the airdrome for hours trying to hole a occupation with 1 of his daughter's tickets, which had been mistakenly issued with her mediate sanction arsenic her past name. But the summons cause told them determination was thing she could bash and that the household would miss their flight, helium said.

"I say, well, my woman made the mistake, but we've been trying to close it," Varela told CBS News. "So that's what we're present for, truthful you tin assistance us. She says, well, I don't attraction if you alert oregon not. So that's what got maine upset. And that's, I said, what's your name? She said, I'm not going to springiness you my name."

After the worker threatened to telephone ICE, Varela said helium was not going to backmost down.

"She assumed that I was conscionable gonna beryllium immoderate idiot that was gonna, you know, conscionable beryllium quiescent and unopen up," Varela said. "So I said, 'No, telephone ICE.'"

Varela added, "My 14-year-old girl is crying connected the side, and she's screaming. My daughter's, like, 'Why would you accidental you were going to telephone ICE?' That's truthful rude and disrespectful, you know?"

Varela said the contented was yet fixed minutes aft the incident, and the household was capable to committee their flight.

United Airlines said Monday successful an email to CBS News Bay Area that it was looking into the interaction, but had nary different comment.

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