Citizens Bank Cuts Financial Ties to Private Prison Contractors After Regional Campaign
Local activist groups including Indivisible Northampton had organized months of protests at bank branches across the region to pressure the financial institution over its lending to private prison contractors.
Citizens Bank announced Friday it will terminate credit relationships with two major for-profit prison contractors that operate facilities for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Rhode Island bank said it is ending financial ties with CoreCivic and GEO Group, which together operate more than 90 prisons and correctional facilities nationwide and hold contracts worth billions of dollars with federal immigration authorities.
The decision comes after months of protests organized by the De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition at branch locations across the Pioneer Valley and at the bank's Providence headquarters. Activists and regional groups, including Indivisible Northampton, demonstrated outside local branches on King Street in Northampton and in Holyoke, Springfield, and East Longmeadow. Citizens Bank attributed the move to "changed commercial circumstances," noting that CoreCivic recently sold California properties to the federal government and GEO Group's leadership indicated it may sell additional properties to ICE.
CoreCivic, which operates more than 40 prisons, has been a Citizens client since 2011 and holds ICE contracts exceeding $2 billion. GEO Group, which operates roughly 50 facilities with more than 60,000 beds nationwide, partnered with Citizens since 2018. The bank has approximately 1,000 branches across 14 states concentrated in the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions and reported $233.8 billion in assets as of June 30.
The coalition's pressure campaign included withdrawal of funds by other institutions. The union representing graduate and undergraduate students at Brown University announced it would pull around $500,000 from Citizens Bank, while the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization withdrew $3 million and governments in New Jersey pulled a collective $300 million. The Most. Rev. Dr. Ray Hammond, a pastor at Bethel A.M.E. Church in Boston and former Citizens board member, called the decision "very good news," saying that immigrants deserve to know community institutions are not enabling detention systems that have harmed neighborhoods nationwide.
Citizens Bank characterized the protests as dragging the company "into what is largely a political matter" and said public characterizations by activist groups do not reflect its commitment to immigrant communities. The bank highlighted that it donates to 140 nonprofit partners serving immigrants and provides $2 billion in community development funding for affordable housing and economic growth.
The De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition, while applauding the decision, said it will continue pressing the bank for written confirmation that it has ended and will not resume banking relationships with either company. A CoreCivic spokesperson said the Tennessee-based firm remains focused on delivering services for government partners and noted its strong financial position. GEO Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.