Front Porch Movement

From Prince to The Replacements, Minneapolis music has always reflected the moment. The moment now is urgent, as immigrant communities live in fear amid a sweeping federal crackdown that has led to massive deportations and the killings of two innocent people. One musician stepping into the moment is Tony Ortiz, best known for a one-hit wonder in the 80’s. His new song, “Americans,” calls for unity and acceptance of diversity. Yet despite being a U.S. citizen, Ortiz now carries his passport, just in case he’s stopped by immigration agents.

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.

Kids in Minnesota are disappearing from the places they once showed up every day: first school, and now youth sports. Teams are feeling the impact of the immigration crackdown as some families keep their children home, worried about the risk of detention. Bob Cruz, who leads the West Side Boosters, has taken on new responsibilities to help keep his community safe. Determined to keep youth sports running, he’s also grappling with the frustration of seeing how the crackdown is affecting children and families across his tight-knit neighborhood of St. Paul. To learn more about the West Side Boosters and to donate, visit https://www.westsideboosters.com/

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/

Where was God on the day two innocent people were killed by the government? What does faith require when fear spreads and indifference takes hold? And how do we move from grief and rage toward hope and love? In this episode, I sit down with Father Jim Cassidy, a longtime friend and Minneapolis priest who has spent decades walking toward pain rather than away from it. Together, we wrestle with moral courage and the troubling indifference to the terror facing immigrants in Minnesota.

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.

In the Land of 10,000 Lakes, ice fishing feels as Minnesotan as hotdish in a church basement; steady, familiar, almost sacred. During my “Six Days Inside Minnesota,” I couldn’t stop thinking about the people who weren’t protesting or donating, who just seemed to be living their lives while the immigration crackdown unfolded. So I laced up my boots and walked a half mile onto a frozen lake to talk with ice fishermen, wondering if their quiet was peace, perspective, or something closer to indifference. What I found out on the ice wasn’t so simple.

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.

We're invited into another Minnesota home, this time we meet a Mexican immigrant father terrorized by the immigration crackdown, and who hasn’t left his house in more than a month. He's built a work life through grocery, hotel, and construction jobs, has paid his taxes, and has no criminal record. Now lives behind covered windows, determined to stay for his teenage daughter while praying the country he once saw as promise will return.

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.

On a quiet street in St. Paul, a stay-at-home mom’s house has become a front-line symbol of activism, covered in signs reading “Black Lives Matter,” “ICE Out,” and “Defend Immigrant Rights.” She describes being followed while walking her children to the bus stop and later trapped between two vehicles in what she believes were aggressive ICE tactics, experiences that left her shaken but more determined. What began as neighborhood postcard writing has evolved into a structured grassroots network, with defined “lanes” of resistance ranging from rapid response to school patrol. In a state she says is “under occupation,” she believes the real legacy may be a stronger, more connected Minnesota community forged through fear, courage, and collective action.

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.

After days of waiting and building trust, I’m led to a surprise meeting point and into a home where the curtains have been drawn for nearly two months. Inside, a Honduran father describes losing his job, draining his savings, and watching his 18-year-old daughter become the family’s sole provider while his 15-year-old son attends school online out of fear. In a house filled with anxiety and uncertainty, he wrestles with whether Minnesota is still the place that once promised his family a better life.

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?

Award-winning journalist Ted Canova embedded for six days in Minnesota to uncover untold stories of the government's immigration crackdown. What emerged were stories of anger and fear, resistance and resilience, perseverance and ingenuity, and faith in humanity.

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.

Host Ted Canova talks with Jafet Rodriquez, an 18 year old who will be voting for the first time in the New Hampshire presidential primary and has a simple message to the leaders of America.

Host Ted Canova has a candid conversation with journalist Ray Suarez on Donald Trump's first 100 days, the challenges facing the media, Ray's ethnic identity and the Twitter storm that erupted when Marc Anthony sang the National Anthem at the All-Star Game.

Host Ted Canova talks with millennial Tom, disappointed by the election results and who is anxious as he heads home for Thanksgiving to face relatives who voted for the other side.

Host Ted Canova talks with Karen at a healing service where she shares her deep sense of abandonment the night after Donald Trump's victory.

Host Ted Canova talks with musicians Vo Era and Eliki who delight passengers on New York City subways while developing their professional musical careers above ground too. ​Follow them and listen to their work Vo @VoEra and VoEra.com Eliki @Eliki and https://soundcloud.com/eliki

Host Ted Canova talks with Eleanor Noell, a runner who survived two traumatic brain injuries and who finds a silver lining on the impact its had on her memory.

Host Ted Canova talks with Pastor Jan Vezikov about the struggles growing up in a bi-cultural family, leaving his job at the CIA, and working at finding hope.

Host Ted Canova talks with Marty and Paul Trent, a father and son, as they visit Central Park's Strawberry Fields on the 35th anniversary of John Lennon's death.