This audio comes from Minneapolis Minnesota earlier this week, as Anti-ICE protestors mobbed a hotel where they believed ICE agents were staying. Two federal agents were left trying to defend the building and staff as protestors smashed windows and attempted to enter. Normally, local law enforcement would be present to defuse a situation like this, but Minneapolis police were nowhere to be found.

Local authorities in Minneapolis, headed by Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey, seem in no hurry to turn down the rioting in their streets. In the wake of two tragic deaths of protestors impeding federal investigations, unrest has only ramped up.

Here to talk about why is Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center here at the Heritage Foundation.

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Thoughts? Questions? Email us at: heritageexplains@heritage.org.

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Work on Immigration by The Heritage Foundation: https://www.heritage.org/border-security

Lora Ries on X: https://x.com/lora_ries

On Sunday morning, a group of anti-ICE protestors stormed Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota during services, reportedly because the pastor of the church appears to also be an ICE official.

This is the latest escalation in an ongoing confrontation taking place in Minneapolis between Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (also known as ICE) carrying out their duties and protestors (often encouraged by media and politicians) who are determined to obstruct them.

To understand some of the dynamic that is going on in Minneapolis, I sat down with Mike Gonzalez, a Senior Fellow here at the Heritage Foundation.

We are surrounded by endless choices for engagement and entertainment, but feel more isolated than ever. And nowhere is that more keenly felt than in the family. What should be the central node of human society, for many, has become distant. Fathers are absent. Children feel disconnected. Fertility has fallen. Government programs have replaced providers. Mass media has replaced human connection.

One thing we should all be able to agree on. It’s time to stop scrolling and look up. It’s time for a renaissance in the family.

Roger Severino and his colleagues here at the Heritage Foundation want to do just that. I sat down with Roger to discuss the new special report, released by Heritage this week: Saving America by Saving the Family: A Foundation for the Next 250 years.

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Email us at heritageexplains@heritage.org.

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More about the family: Heritage.org/family

Heritage Family Paper: Saving America by Saving the Family: https://www.heritage.org/family/saving-america-by-saving-the-family

On January 3, US operatives arrested Venezuelan Nicolas Maduro. Maduro’s arrest is an event that has people talking, not just about the capture of one narcoterrorist, but about a fundamental shift in the way that the US goes about foreign policy. Here to talk us through that shift is Mike Gonzalez, a Senior Fellow for the Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, here at the Heritage Foundation.

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Have questions, suggestions, or comments? Email us at Heritageexplains@heritage.org

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Follow Mike Gonzalez on X: https://x.com/Gundisalvus

More of Mike's work: https://www.heritage.org/staff/mike-gonzalez

As the days get shorter and shorter, and the focus turns from work to home, we enter that end-of-year frame of mind. It’s the natural time to look back on the lessons of 2025 and to look forward to 2026 and beyond.

Americans intuit that this season of self-reflection is an important one to keep alive. And we at the Heritage Foundation agree. That’s why this week on Heritage Explains, I sat down with our President, Dr. Kevin Roberts, to talk about what we’ve learned from 2025 and what to look forward to in the new year.

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The Kevin Roberts Show: https://www.heritage.org/the-kevin-roberts-show

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Have thoughts? Let us know at heritageexplains@heritage.org

In the 20th century, the traditional agriculture term “earmarking” gained traction in US politics, becoming slang for the mechanism of including smaller, regionally targeted spending for particular constituencies in larger spending bills. This was often done to appease a particular group or to provide leverage to get an individual legislator on board with a bill. But do they really serve the American public? At Heritage, we don’t think so.

I sat down with Chip Wyatt, Government Relations Director at Heritage Action for America, to learn why.

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Check out Heritage Action: heritageaction.com

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Have thoughts? Let us know at heritageexplains@heritage.org

Family life does not stop, especially at this time of year. The Supreme Court of the United States has also been busy. Over the last week or so, the court has taken up or listened to arguments in three potentially landmark cases. All three have to do with the Trump administration’s goals for the executive branch.

Heritage Senior Legal Fellow, and frequent guest on this our show, Hans von Spakovsky was kind enough to take a break from his own busy holiday season, to stop by and break down these three cases for us.

This week, the people of Webster Springs, West Virginia ZXZ mourn one of their own: National Guard Member Sarah Beckstrom. The 20-year old service member had volunteered to remain in Washington, DC, as part of President Trump’s crackdown on crime in the district, when she was shot on Thursday by an Afghan national. Once again, the national issue of immigration has found its ways to the small towns of our nation. Lora Ries, Director of the Center for Border Security and Immigration, joined Heritage Explains to talk about what this tragedy means and how the conversation has changed around immigration.

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Follow Lora on X: https://x.com/lora_ries

Mike Howell’s Paper: https://www.heritage.org/border-security/report/significant-policy-changes-needed-meet-mass-deportation-goals

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Have thoughts? Let us know at heritageexplains@heritage.org