The Daily Populous Monday February 16th, 2026 night edition
Authored by thefashioncentral.co.uk and submitted by ArmyOk968

It started as a brand new business and quickly turned into something way bigger than Juan Leon ever expected.

Just a few months ago, Leon proudly launched Leo’s Towing, Minnesota’s newest tow truck service. Like most small business owners, he figured he would be dealing with the usual calls, broken down cars, parking lot problems, maybe the occasional abandoned vehicle. But soon, he noticed something strange.

He kept getting calls about cars left behind in the same way. Vehicles parked on the side of the road or sitting in business lots, untouched, with no sign of the owners. And it wasn’t random.

Not long after, Leon realized there was a clear pattern. In most, if not all, of the cases, he learned the owners had been arrested by ICE during Operation Metro Storm. No matter where someone stands politically on immigration enforcement, the reality on the ground was obvious. People were being taken into custody and their cars were left behind, creating a mess for families and for neighborhoods.

ICE arrests left cars abandoned on streets and this tow truck driver started bringing them home. (Photo by Screenshot WCCO – CBS Minnesota / YouTube)

Leon saw that as more than just a towing job. He saw it as a chance to help.

Instead of charging hefty fees or letting the vehicles sit for days until they were impounded, Leon started returning the cars to the arrested person’s family members, completely free. For the past four months, Leo’s Towing has been working to reunite families with vehicles that might otherwise have been lost.

Sometimes Leon does the work alone. Other times he responds directly to calls from relatives trying to track down a missing car. Either way, the goal is the same, get the vehicle back safely before it becomes another expensive problem for a family already dealing with a crisis.

“Seeing there was a need for someone to help out, help clear the streets and get the people back their vehicles. So we stepped up and started doing it,” Leon told CBS which manages an affiliate in Minnesota.

Leon has even spent weeks showing up at the scene of earlier arrests, often working alongside “observers,” to locate the abandoned vehicles and figure out how to get them returned.

“Families reach out to us,” Leon said. “If the family isn’t reaching out, we’ll find a way to get inside the vehicle and we’ll bring it back to their house and put it in a safe spot.”

It’s a simple act, but one that can make a huge difference. For many families, losing access to a car can mean losing the ability to get to work, pick up kids, or handle basic daily life. And Leon’s effort shows how a small business owner can end up playing an unexpected role in the middle of a much larger national issue.

entered_bubble_50 on February 15th, 2026 at 17:20 UTC »

r/orphancrushingmachine is leaking again.

sundubu7 on February 15th, 2026 at 16:07 UTC »

Please support their gofundme so they can keep doing this work! https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-leo-towing-for-ice-victims

feed_meknowledge on February 15th, 2026 at 15:34 UTC »

Bittersweet smile. So it's as important as ever to be active in the community to educate your neighbors on what each candidate truly represents, who backs them, and what their past actions show. In addition to driving voter turnout for all federal, statewide, and local elections.

Verify you have not been removed from being a registered voter now, and set a reminder to check again in the months before any election in case you need to re-register. There are reports of people silently being removed from state voter rolls.

Check your voter registration, upcoming registration and voting deadlines, and register to vote:

https://www.vote.org/

Look up your state's upcoming local and statewide elections throughout the year:

https://ballotpedia.org/Elections_calendar

Updated information regarding the potential passing of the SAVE Act near the bottom.

The following links provide opportunities to participate in voter education, increase voter turnout, and contact your local representatives.

https://www.mobilize.us/ - Find local opportunities and events to spread awareness, collaborate with others, and organize.

https://indivisible.org/get-involved/ - National grassroots organization with local chapters in many counties/cities of every state. Focused on voter education and turnout from local elections to federal elections.

https://5calls.org/ - Provides templates and structured ways to call your local and state representatives, and leave them detailed information on what you would like to see as their constituents.

https://nextgenamerica.org/fight-back/ - Nationwide organization focused on voter education and turnout among the younger half of the population.

https://commondefense.us/ - Grassroots organization focused on veterans/veteran family members, their stories, and voter education and turnout among this demographic.

Note: REAL ID and Social Security Cards will not qualify for voting purposes if the SAVE Act passes without changes to its current form, as they do not state citizenship status.

So in preparation for a possible passing of the bill, it would be important to begin the process of obtaining a passport or birth certificate, certificate of naturalization and state ID that matches your current name, and a marriage certificate or divorce decree if your current name does not match. Links on how to request are below.

It can take weeks to months to obtain these documents now, even without the system being backed up due to others jumping in on the process in the near future.

https://www.usps.com/international/passports.htm

https://www.usa.gov/birth-certificate

https://www.uscis.gov/n-565

https://www.usa.gov/marriage-certificate

https://www.usa.gov/divorce-decree

Informative articles on the SAVE Act, which could affect the way everyone votes if it passes. Reach out to your state Senators regarding your thoughts on the bill.

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-save-act-would-disenfranchise-millions-of-citizens/

https://bipartisanpolicy.org/article/five-things-to-know-about-the-save-act/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/how-the-save-america-act-would-make-major-changes-to-voting

https://indivisible.org/resource/voter-id-101-right-vote-shouldnt-come-barriers/

Join and take action.

Screenshot to save before it gets deleted.

Copy and share the links.