Front Porch Movement

What kind of person steps forward when everyone else is afraid to be seen? In Minneapolis, Jason Arce has turned his family’s towing company into a quiet lifeline for immigrant families, offering free tows for cars left abandoned after ICE agents pull drivers from their vehicles on snowy Minnesota roads. At a time when immigration crackdowns have shaken the city and sparked investigations and protests, Arce has publicly put his business, and his name, behind helping neighbors who suddenly lose everything in a moment.

For every peaceful protest and silent vigil in Minnesota, I uncovered a quieter, tactical operation helping immigrants too afraid to leave their homes. I walk through rooms once filled with youth programs, now transformed into a discreet logistics hub stacked with diapers, formula, food, and essentials — while volunteers coordinate coded deliveries, laundry pick-ups, and even a network of doulas and midwives for women too fearful to seek hospital care. In this episode, Janet Gracia, President and CEO of Neighborhood House, pulls back the curtain on this expanding underground effort and shares the heartbreaking story of a nursing mother detained and sent to Texas, leaving her husband to care for four young children alone. To learn more about Neighborhood House and to find ways to donate, visit https://neighborhoodhousemn.org/

The images sparked outrage far beyond Minnesota: a five-year-old boy in a blue bunny hat detained and sent to a Texas ICE facility along with his father. In Columbia Heights, just north of Minneapolis, that moment put an entire community on edge. I felt the strain when I arrived at a local elementary school during recess and met a Somali father waiting to pick up his own five-year-old daughter, a man whose nationality has too often been politicized, stereotyped, and dehumanized, and who offered a perspective on indifference I had yet to consider.

After 32 years of attaining his American Dream, raising two kids, and building a successful business in Minnesota, Luis isn’t being deported, he’s choosing to leave the U.S. What worries him the most is the impact the government crackdown on immigrants is having on his 9 year old son, afraid to leave the house or attend school, and who's growing up with hate in his head and fear in his heart.

Lifelong activist Peggy Carlson is one of 1,200 singing activists marching through the snowy streets of Minneapolis, calling on ICE to leave Minnesota. At 74, Peggy reflects on decades of marching for justice and is frustrated and tired that her work is not done. Peggy believes the price of empathy, like the price of ignorance, both carry consequences. She is bolstered by seeing Minnesotans standing united in their protection of immigrants, believing that real change in communities of color will only happen when white communities step up, like they are today.

We're back in a house with the drapes drawn and a family in hiding for two months. Meet a 15-year-old Honduran-American teenager describe living in constant fear as immigration enforcement and ICE activity keep he and his family confined inside their home. Unable to attend school in person, walk his dog freely, or spend time with friends, he explains how anxiety, lost sleep, and isolation have reshaped his daily life and mental health. The teenager shares how his family has grown closer under pressure, with his 18-year-old sister becoming the sole breadwinner and his parents struggling to remain strong. His story offers a rare, personal look at how immigration crackdowns in Minnesota are affecting children, families, and student well-being beyond the headlines.

On a flight to Minneapolis, journalist Ted Canova begins reporting before takeoff. A chance encounter with a mutual aid organizer turns into a candid conversation at 36,000 feet about ICE operations, immigration fears, and how Minneapolis is responding. Brian, a Minneapolis resident involved in mutual aid efforts, describes how doctors, lawyers, restaurant owners, parents, and volunteers are mobilizing to protect vulnerable communities amid heightened immigration enforcement. He reflects on how the legacy of George Floyd still shapes civic engagement in Minnesota, and why he believes this moment, rather than weakening the city, is strengthening its collective resolve. This episode explores fear, resilience, political division, and the question at the heart of it all: What happens to a city when everyone feels the stakes at once?

Politics and the pandemic have divided us like never before. But how can family and friends come together while still having strong opposing opinions on hot button topics? We called on Dr. Susan Birne-Stone, a Brooklyn psychotherapist, to get her expert advice not just for the holidays but in the volatile days and years to come.