Citizens Bank Cuts Ties to ICE Prison Companies GEO Group & CoreCivic After Grassroots Campaign

Citizens Bank Cuts Ties with Private Prison Operators [0:00]

• Citizens Bank has ended its financial relationships with CoreCivic and the GEO Group, two of the largest private prison companies that operate immigration jails for ICE.
• The bank had provided over $2.5 billion in financing to these companies.
• Citizens Bank stated the decision was a "business decision" based on changed commercial circumstances, not protests or boycotts.

  "The National Bank has faced significant pushback from social justice groups and activists for providing more than $2.5 billion in financing to the two private prison companies."

Municipalities Divest from Citizens Bank [0:00]

• The decision by Citizens Bank followed significant pressure, including Montclair, New Jersey, voting to pull its $91 million account.
• Just three days prior, Montclair Mayor Renee Baskerville urged diligence in choosing business partners, emphasizing awareness of "behind the scenes types of things."

  "It's not just a one out. It's like a wake up call that I think that we need to be more diligent about who we're doing business with, who we're investing with, what contracts we're giving out."

• This action mirrored Jersey City's decision the previous month to divest over $250 million from Citizens Bank.

Activists Drive Pressure Campaign [0:00]

• Jersey City Councilmember Jake Efros highlighted the growing pressure on Citizens Bank, driven by the "de-ice Citizens Bank" movement.
• Efros, who started as an organizer for the Abolish ICE movement, noticed Citizens Bank's financing of GEO Group (operator of Delaney Hall) on a city council agenda.

  "And it just so happened that the de-ice Citizens Bank movement, these amazing activists who are identifying just how much financing of GEO Group, which operates Delaney, as you mentioned, and of course, Civic, just how much financing Citizens Bank does."

• He worked with Councilman Joel Brooks to demand and unanimously pass a resolution to divest Jersey City's $200+ million from the bank.

Individual Accounts Closed Over Complicity [0:00]

• Oscar-nominated filmmaker Julie Cohen and her husband Paul Barrett closed their personal accounts at Citizens Bank.
• They cited the bank's financing of GEO Group and Core Civic, which they linked to ICE detention centers like Delaney Hall and Dilley, Texas.

  "We didn't want our own money going to that, and we certainly don't want our tax dollars in bank accounts that are associated with ICE and that really enable some of ICE's worst behavior."

• Cohen emphasized the lack of due process and human rights violations at these facilities.

Religious Organizations Withdraw Funds [0:00]

• Reverend John Edgerton, representing the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO), detailed their withdrawal of $3 million from Citizens Bank.
• GBIO had informed the bank's board and CEO of their concerns and requested a meeting, which was never scheduled.

  "And so we told them, if you won't meet with us, won't discuss our concerns, then we will withdraw a million dollars on this date. And we did so."

• The organization then withdrew an additional $2 million after the bank failed to respond.

Bank's Refusal to Meet and Reneged Promise [0:00]

• Reverend Edgerton stated that Citizens Bank CEO Bruce Van Zandt had committed to meeting with GBIO within two weeks but later reneged.
• The bank sent a letter claiming they were reneging because GBIO was making "false and misleading statements," which Edgerton refuted.

  "And then later on, they sent us a letter saying that they were reneging on that promise to meet with us because we were making false and misleading statements."

• Edgerton expressed a desire to still meet with the CEO to offer advice on rebuilding trust.

Citizens Bank's "Political Matter" Claim [0:00]

• Citizens Bank expressed disappointment that activists had turned the issue into a "political matter."
• Reverend Edgerton countered that the situation became "terrible for Citizens Bank because of their own decisions."

  "This is a situation that has become terrible for Citizens Bank because of their own decisions."

• He argued that no one forced the bank into the private prison business, unlike most other big banks that divested in 2021.

Consequences of Bank's Choices [0:00]

• Edgerton asserted that Citizens Bank is now "stuck between a rock and a hard place" due to public opposition and potential regulatory issues.
• He emphasized that the bank should have exited the "dirty business" of private prisons earlier and now needs to repair its reputation.

  "Citizens stayed in it. They shouldn't have. And now they need to repair their reputation with the people of this country."