SOMA Action, a progressive grassroots political action organization, is among many organizations that recently staged protests of Citizens Bank, calling for the company to stop financing the United States’ dominant private prison companies.
On Saturday, May 2, the group staged an hourlong protest at the Citizens Bank in downtown South Orange.
According to a SOMA Action news release, Citizens extends credit and loans to The Geo Group and CoreCivic, which between them operate close to 100 private correctional facilities and are currently holding more than half of the 70,000 immigrants detained by ICE in the Trump administration’s mass deportation scheme. Citizens Bank has helped CoreCivic and GEO Group access more than $2.5 billion in financing over the past dozen years, through loans, bond underwriting and credit lines, the release states.
The South Orange protest on Saturday was part of a broader campaign led by the DE-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition and Boycott Citizens, grassroots groups working in the Northeast to convince Citizens Bank to cut ties with the private prison industry.
“Citizens Bank needs to stop financing private, profit-making detention centers that deny New Jerseyans their human rights, limit medical care and due process, and traumatize families with long-standing separation, said Cynthia Galeota, co-chair of SOMA Action’s Immigration Committee. “These protests will not stop until Citizens Bank, which professes to promote strong communities, ceases to finance human cruelty.”
Galeota said SOMA Action plans to continue the protests in front of Citizens Bank in South Orange on a biweekly basis until the bank cuts its ties with The Geo Group and CoreCivic.
According to News12 New Jersey, Citizens Bank released the following statement:
“Citizens respects the right to peaceful expression and understands that people hold strong views on this issue. We conduct our business through a model that combines close client relationships with rigorous due diligence, regulatory compliance, and responsible risk management. We stand by our clients through good times and challenging environments, provided they meet our high standards. Our commitment to responsible banking extends to supporting the communities we serve and engaging thoughtfully with stakeholders who are impacted by our work. This commitment shows up in our actions—last year, Citizens invested more than $20 million in our communities, and our colleagues logged over 265,000 volunteer hours supporting more than 40,000 nonprofit organizations nationwide; more than 1,000 Citizens executives also serve on nonprofit boards. As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on specific client relationships. We appreciate the perspectives of our clients and the communities we serve and remain committed to serving all stakeholders.”
SOMA Action says it will keep staging biweekly protests in front of Citizens Bank in South Orange until the company cuts ties with private prison companies operating ICE Detention facilities. (Photo courtesy of SOMA Action)
