Julio Varela was told by a United Airlines employee that he did not act like a citizen during a ticketing dispute.

Julio Varela, a naturalized citizen from San Ramon, was reportedly insulted by a United Airlines employee at San Francisco International Airport after a lengthy ticketing dispute. The interaction, which has since gone viral, began when Varela spent three hours attempting to correct a name error on his daughter's ticket for a flight to Montreal. The situation escalated when the employee expressed indifference toward the family's predicament, leading Varela to ask for her name so he could report her. The employee refused to identify herself and instead threatened to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Varela. In the recorded exchange, the employee told Varela, "Maybe you need to be, because you don't act like a citizen." Varela expressed frustration over the remark, noting that as a Mexican American, he found the threat of being detained by ICE particularly dismissive. United Airlines stated the company is looking into the interaction but has not provided further details.

Sources