Citizens Bank said Friday it will end its relationships with two private prison companies that operate detention centers for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, citing “changed commercial circumstances.”
The Providence, Rhode Island-based lender has been under activist pressure for months over its relationships with CoreCivic and The GEO Group, which each operate several ICE detention centers.
Organizers for the De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition have said Citizens has financed about $2.5 billion for CoreCivic and GEO, and that more than 20 people have died in the care of ICE facilities owned by these groups.
Citizens, however, gave no credit to the activists in a Friday statement on its decision, and called the end of its relationships “a business decision” which “does not reflect any change in our view regarding these companies' business models or operations.”
The federal government purchased or indicated its intention to purchase several facilities owned by the private prison operators, Citizens said. This reduces the companies’ capital needs and therefore reduces their “need for a bank with Citizens’ full range of capabilities.”
The bank said it’s “disappointed” that activists “dragged [the bank] into what is largely a political matter,” and that public characterization of the bank as a result does “not reflect who we are or the record we have built.”
Citizens funds 140 nonprofits that serve immigrant communities, and last year provided $2 billion in funding toward affordable housing and local economic growth, the lender said.
Activists have not recognized the bank is beholden to a regulatory obligation not to de-bank lawful businesses based on politics or religion, Citizens said.
“All banks, including ourselves, must consider these regulatory and contractual frameworks in making decisions on who to bank or not bank,” the bank said. “Given the important role that banks play in providing financing in this country, providing fair access to bank funding should be something all should agree with. Political concerns should be addressed through political channels.”
Activists of the De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition vowed in a statement seen by ESG Dive’s sister publication Banking Dive to continue their campaign amid ongoing questions, seeking assurance that the bank is “terminating any and all banking relationships — as well as future relationships” with the companies.
Nonprofits, businesses, municipalities and individuals have taken hundreds of millions of dollars out of their Citizens accounts since May to boycott ICE.
In June, Jersey City, New Jersey said it would withdraw $265 million in city funds from Citizens in protest, moving roughly $150 million in a single day, according to Jersey City Times. In nearby Montclair, New Jersey, the township council voted July 14 to withdraw $91 million from the bank, NJ.com reported.
“More customers are continuing to consider terminating their relationships with Citizens Bank. Until we get all questions answered, we expect this will continue as customers align their personal values with banks they do business with,” the activist coalition wrote Friday.
