Charlotte towing company offers free tows for Border Patrol detainees
Towing companies don’t typically elicit positive feelings.
So, when Carolina’s Towing company said it was offering free towing services to families affected by U.S. Border Patrol detainments, some people weren’t buying it.
“They asked, ‘Is this true,’ ” said Carolina’s office manager, Macey Greer. “But we are really trying to help… There’s just so much going on, so much sadness. It’s just what we can give back. We can’t do a lot right now, but we’re just trying to do at least something. And we have the tow trucks.”
If a family member or friend is detained by Border Patrol and a car is left behind, Carolina’s will pick up the vehicle and bring it home.
On Thursday, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden and other local officials said Border Patrol was ceasing its operation in Charlotte but Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue working in the city. Over 370 people were arrested in the Charlotte area as of Thursday, according to the federal government.
However, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said agents were not finished.
Regardless, Carolina’s said it would offer the services until it’s no longer needed.
It’s an invaluable service in the grand scheme of what detainment means for relatives or friends.
Charlotte is a car-dependent city. In 2022, city officials estimated that more than three-quarters of Charlotteans rely on cars to get to work.
Without a car, family or friends of people who are detained may be without their primary mode of transportation until the person comes home. If they come home.
Depending on where the car is left, it may be towed for violating loitering rules of the parking lot.
Getting the car back would be costly and, in some cases, the person picking up the car must be the registered owner, said Ramon Vargas, one of Carolina’s drivers.
“We help them get the car back to make sure they don’t have another loss,” Vargas said. “Family members can still drive the car… Most of them, they don’t know what to do next, so we don’t want them to lose everything”
‘We’re a family’
On Tuesday, Vargas received his fifth pickup of the day.
The car belonged to Joshua Long, a volunteer who was alerting others of agents’ location at the Eastway Crossing shopping center.
Long’s friend, Lucy Selby, said that they were watching agents and alerting people. They followed agents into the lot, and the agents responded by blocking them in with vehicles, she said.
Long was taken into custody and held in an FBI office for about six hours.
He said he was charged with simple assault on a federal officer, and that he was told he “skimmed (agents’) car while trying to evade them.”
Had his car remained at Eastway, it would’ve been towed later that night Vargas said.
On the drive to Long’s home, Vargas said he was disappointed with Border Patrol’s action, mainly because agents were supposed to be targeting criminals.
“(Border Patrol) says they are looking for criminals but they are targeting workplaces, churches, laundromats,” Vargas said. “What criminals are there? They are targeting just Hispanics.”
Greer said Carolina’s has received about 15 calls so far.
And they will help for as long as they can.
“They don’t need all that stress,” Greer said.
Vargas added, “We’re a family. We have Hispanic coworkers. I’m Puerto Rican. Us Hispanics, we are one. And this is wrong.”
This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
