I was among the protestors standing outside of the Lexington branch of Citizens Bank this past Saturday, one of over 30 such protests held that day across New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. Many passers-by weren’t sure what it was all about.

Citizens Bank is known for its banking services to consumers and has provided financial support to arts organizations in the area. But they have an unsavory sideline. Their parent company, Citizens Financial Group, is a key financier of the for-profit prison companies that build and operate ICE detention centers, CoreCivic and The Geo Group.

Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year old with a spider-man backpack and a chullo-style winter hat was taken to a CoreCivic-operated detention center in South Texas. Families of those detained in that center have previously sued because of very bad living conditions there. Although his father was described as an “illegal alien” by the Department of Homeland Security, per their lawyer he had followed all required steps in applying for asylum. They are not criminals, and certainly not the “worst of the worst” the Department of Homeland Security claims as the targets of their actions.

We feel that while Citizens Bank does invest in projects that are valuable to the community, it is important that they commit to end their support of the for-profit prison business. We know that by itself that would not change the actions of a government that is hell-bent on deporting as many immigrants as possible, whatever their legal status. But it would show investors and other banks that compromising stated ethical principles to serve an authoritarian regime is not good for customers or for business.

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