A protesting illegal immigrant called for “real socialism” to take the place of capitalism in an interview during the Los Angeles protests, adding that he wanted the United States to become more like the Soviet Union, which provoked outrage from conservatives online.
For context, in an interview with online conservative personality Willie Nelson, a man who entered the United States illegally spoke candidly about what he wants the country to be like, disputing the use of the term “illegal” and describing himself as “anti-capitalist.” The interview, which Nelson posted on X on June 9, 2025, has since gone viral.
In the clip, the illegal immigrant told Nelson that he did not “agree with the term ‘illegal,” adding, “We’re undocumented. We’ve been here for thousands of years, before you guys showed up and screwed up everything.” The man went on to say of his fellow illegal immigrants, “We’re anti-capitalist. We think socialism does workâreal socialism.”
Next, the man explained that the “real socialism” he was describing was not exemplified by countries like Venezuela or Cuba, describing their systems as “crap that they try to sell us as socialism.” He added that he was calling for “a more humane system that would take care of people’s necessities.”
In response to the man’s comments, Nelson asked if there was a country that exemplified the illegal immigrant’s idealistic view of socialism. In response, the man said, “The only model would be, uh, Soviet Union, the first four years.” He added, “After that, it became a mess. Sadly, there was bureaucrat leadership that grew out of that.”
Continuing to defend the Soviet Union, the immigrant said that the downfall of the USSR occurred due to “the attacks of the U.S. and all big, uh, powers, against that system that was working.” He added, “In the few years that it lasted, it showed the world that it could do much better than capitalism.”
In a subsequent video shared by Nelson, the man said of himself and his fellow illegal immigrants, “We support Palestine 100%. We do not believe that the state of Israel should exist, because it’s a military enclave of the, uh, corporations and, mainly, U.S. and European powers.” He added, “It’s sad that Jewish people have Zionism (sic) as their leaders. They should get rid of them.”
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Furthermore, the man argued that in addition to getting rid of their leaders, “Everyone should return to where they’re from,” adding that the United States “stole the land from Mexico and indigenous people here,” saying that those who share his views support Palestine out of solidarity. In response to the man’s comments, an X user quipped, “Perhaps he should take his own advice…return to wherever he’s from.”
Watch the clip:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video