On social media, a viral clip features Mayor Bill Wells of El Cajon, California, alleging that top anti-ICE protesters are paid $80,000–$120,000 annually, funded by figures like George Soros, and even flown across the country to protest and wreak havoc in an attempt to make ICE look unpopular with the American public.
In fact, responding to a journalist’s hypothetical about Republican border protests, Wells attributed the organized actions to paid “wingnuts” who risk their bodies fighting federal authority. Additionally, he warned that selective law-following leads to anarchy and the destruction of the country without the rule of law, while expressing compassion but stressing legal compliance. Reacting to these allegations, conservative commenters praised the revelation as confirming long-held suspicions about dark-money-funded protests.
Breaking the story, a viral post on X drew attention to Mayor Wells’s commentary by noting, “California Mayor in San Diego County confirms top anti-ICE protesters are being paid between $80,000-$100,000 per year. He says protesters are even being flown around the country.” The same post included the clip of Wells explaining what’s going on.
At the start of the clip, the journalist asked a pointed question of the courageous mayor, noting that Republicans weren’t engaged in big anti-immigration protests during the Biden years. “What if we, as Republicans, would have [gone] to the border and protested? Instead, we just let everybody come in. You know why?” she asked.
“It’s because we don’t have a George Soros that’s funding these operations. These people are being paid between $80,000 and $120,000 a year to be paid protesters,” answered El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells honestly and decisively, noting correctly that massive funding is keeping the anti-ICE protests going.
Digging into the details, the California mayor noted that the “wingnuts” of the leftist protest movement are the paid radicals who fly from city to city wreaking havoc, saying, “When you’re a paid protester, and you’re kind of a wingnut, those two things go hand in hand, and and, yes, you’ll fly to other cities and stay there and put your body at risk of fighting the federal government.”
Laying out the dire situation, the courageous California mayor also noted that while he wants to be compassionate, the anarchy must be brought to an end. He said, “There’s an anarchy happening that I worry about people. I know people are compassionate, and I get that you want. I want to be compassionate towards people, too.”
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Adding to that, he noted that the law cannot sometimes be ignored, saying, “But if you start throwing out the laws of the federal government and saying, ‘Well, I’ll follow this law, but I won’t follow that law. I’ll be an anarchist here, but I won’t be an anarchist there. I’ll fight against anarchy in some other way.'”
Wrapping up his comments with an incisive argument, he blasted these leftist protestors and those who tolerate them as they cause cause and threaten to destroy America, saying, “Then you’re just inviting the destruction of the country as a whole, because without the rule of law, we’re going to fold you.”
Watch the clip here:
California Mayor in San Diego County confirms top anti-ICE protesters are being paid between $80,000-$100,000 per year
He says protesters are even being flown around the country
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells “George Soros that’s funding these operations. These people are being paid… pic.twitter.com/MKxC40NPfX
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) February 1, 2026
Reacting to the situation in the comments under the clip, conservatives decried the situation. “That makes perfect sense. It seemed like the money must be good if they’re out all in all kinds of weather,” one user noted.
“Communism works out great for the people pushing it, not so great for the people it’s being pushed on,” another comment read. Likewise, a conspiratorial comment declared, “Crazy to hear officials saying what the ‘conspiracy’ crowd has been on for years. Putting out numbers 🤯.”
Upset, another added, “This folks is why we have an FBI … how was this problem allowed to grow so big? Thanks for nothing, Dan Bogina …” Building on this point, one user stated, “And yet no arrests of Soros or those organizing this? That should explain a lot!”
Featured image from embedded video