'So demeaning.' United employee threatens to call ICE on California passenger in viral video

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Set us as preferred A Mexican American father was floored when a United Airlines customer service agent threatened to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement on him during a heated interaction at San Francisco International Airport.“My reaction was shock, disbelief, anger, embarrassment,” Julio Varela, 54, said in an interview Monday.“It was so demeaning.”The incident took place Tuesday after Varela said he had spent more than two hours working with United to try to resolve a ticketing issue.

As tensions escalated between him and a customer service agent, he took out his phone and began recording.“Maybe we should call ICE on you,” the female employee says in the video, followed by, “You don’t act like a citizen, get away.”Varela was so outraged by the comment he decided to post the video on Reddit in an effort to seek accountability.It quickly attracted a massive amount of public and media attention, and a spokesperson for United confirmed Monday that the airline is investigating the incident.

World & Nation The events are the first major test fo Markwayne Mullin, who promised a steady hand for a department roiled by his predecessor’s conduct and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.“I definitely wanted others to see, and I also want other immigrants or minorities to know — whether they’re legal, illegal, whether they have their residency or their citizenship — that if this happens to you, stand up,” he said.“You have got to fight back.”In the nearly 90-second recording, Varela calls the customer service representative lazy, rude and racist and asks her for her name tag.

The heated encounter ends with the woman, who is also recording the confrontation, walking toward him and pushing his phone away.Varela said he was shocked that someone in California would suggest call...