100 signatures reached
To: Democratic city leaders, City Councils
Democratic City Leaders: Divest from Citizens Bank!
Cities across the country are depositing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars with Citizens Bank, one of the last major banks still financing the corporations behind immigrant detention.
Sign the petition urging Democratic city leaders to move public funds away from Citizens Bank and stop rewarding a bank that bankrolls the private prison industry. Our taxpayer dollars should support schools, parks, and essential public services, not corporations that profit from detention.
Why is this important?
CoreCivic and GEO Group, the nation's two largest private prison corporations, operate more than half of all ICE detention facilities. While most major banks have cut ties with the private prison industry after years of public pressure, Citizens Bank has gone the other direction. Since 2012, it has helped these companies access more than $2.5 billion in financing and even expanded GEO Group's credit line by another $100 million earlier this year.
Public deposits are valuable business for banks. Cities and states entrust hundreds of millions—and collectively more than $750 billion—in taxpayer dollars to financial institutions, generating significant revenue and providing capital that supports their business. This is real leverage for city leaders to hold Citizens Bank accountable and dismantle detention infrastructure.
We've already seen this strategy work. Last month, the Jersey City Council voted to move $265 million in public funds out of Citizens Bank because of the bank's financing of CoreCivic and GEO Group. Now it's time for more cities to follow Jersey City's lead and use public dollars to pressure Citizens Bank to end its support for immigrant detention.