United Airlines employee threatens to call ICE on Bay Area family at SFO

A viral video captured the confrontation during a ticketing dispute, leaving the family fearing detainment upon their return from Canada.

A Bay Area family was flying home to San Francisco International Airport with lingering fears of detainment after a viral video showed a United Airlines employee threatening to call immigration authorities on them during a ticketing dispute.

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Julio Varela of San Ramon said neither the airport nor United Airlines has contacted his family of four to assure them they will not be detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) upon their return from Montreal Saturday night.

“I don’t even know what’s going to happen when I get back to San Francisco,” Varela said from the Montreal airport prior to his flight. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen when I get back.”