WE ARE DOING IT AGAIN!
Join others at dozens of Citizen Bank branches in VA, DC, NJ, PA, NY, RI, CT, MA and VT to send them a clear message: financing private prison and immigration detention facility operators The GEO Group and CoreCivic is bad for business.
We’ll stand out on the public sidewalks on King Street Northampton, in front of Stop and Shop Plaza (Citizens Bank has a branch inside Stop and Shop).
Please only bring signs specific to this action: De-ICE Citizens Bank; Cages Aren’t Communities; Citizens Bank – Stop Financing ICE prisons; Citizens Bank + ICE = Human Rights Abuse; ICE Prisons Don’t Strengthen Our Communities; Citizens Bank- Cut Ties With ICE Prisons; etc. We’ll have some extras too.
Notorious private prison companies The GEO Group and CoreCivic are being called on to be part of an unprecedented expansion in capacity as part of the Trump administration’s mass detention, deportation, and surveillance policies.
To accommodate the planned increase in detention capacity, GEO and CoreCivic must undertake expensive construction and renovation projects. Since 2019, though, most of their lenders have cut ties with the two companies, which have faced allegations from forced labor to securities fraud.
Citizens Bank has instead deepened its relationship with the private prison industry, taking on new roles in financing both CoreCivic and GEO, all while continuing to tell their customers that they’re focused on strengthening our communities.
We won’t quietly stand by as Citizens continues to finance the private prison & ICE detention companies that are harming our communities. The 2019 exodus of banks from the industry in response to activism should be a reminder to us that our voices matter. Now it’s time to use them. Visit https://www.boycottcitizens.org/ for more information.
A core principle behind all of these events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully (without civil disobedience) at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events. Please do not block business entrances or traffic. All participants and cosponsors must follow our Protest Guidelines – https://www.tinyurl.com/INSLWMguidelines