On March 7th, in front of Lexington’s Citizens Bank branch, a group of Lexington residents gathered to protest. They were part of a larger grouping of more than 60 other demonstrations across the East Coast and Midwest all protesting the bank’s financial support for ICE detention facilities.
According to the official De-ICE Citizens Bank website, Citizens Bank is a major lender to two of the largest private prison companies in the country, the GEO group and CoreCivic. These two companies partner with ICE to help detain the tens of thousands of people currently held by the agency across the country.
“People are not aware of the connection between Citizens Bank and ICE, so it’s a conversation that needs to be had,” said Barbara Katzenberg, one of the organizers of various De-ICE protests that happened on March 7th. “There’s a lot of energy right now. We’re making our voices heard. A lot of times, just letting people know that something’s gonna be happening is all it takes to get people to show up,” she said.
Some protesters were once customers of Citizens Bank but are now raising questions about the bank’s values.
From left to right: protesters Dave Pollack, Rita Bourne, Lynne Klemmer, Erik Husby
“It concerns me greatly that, rather than reinvesting in the community, this bank is providing a financial lending source to companies building private prisons for ICE,” said Todd Burger, a Lexington resident and Town Meeting member.
“To be a responsible bank in our community, I want to see a bank that invests in the community’s values. Those are not my values, and I don’t think those are Lexington’s values. I’ve actually had accounts in this bank for over 20 years. We started moving our accounts out two months ago,” Burger said.
Many of the people held up signs with slogans such as “ICE OUT NOW” and “CITIZENS BANK STOP FUNDING ICE.” One of the posters was a large, printed photo of Liam Conejo Ramos, a five-year-old boy that was detained by ICE.
“This young person is an example of the immoral acts that ICE is funding at this moment, separating parents and children, and creating havoc,” JoAnn Mulready-Shick, part-time lecturer at UMass Boston and protester, said about her sign.
Many of the protesters expressed their support for the people detained by ICE.
“Immigrants are very important to our country. We’re all related to immigrants,” Erik Husby, a longtime resident of Lexington, said. “Right now, anybody with any color to their skin is being targeted,” added Lynne Klemmer, an artist and longtime resident of Lexington.
As the protest continued, passing cars honked their horns in support. If there was any disagreement among the passersby, none voiced their opinions that day.
“We haven’t really had counter protesters here. We have had some conversations with people, but in a way, conversations are kind of what it’s about. You want to educate people, and let people know. People do have differences of opinion,” said Katzenberg.
All of the protesters interviewed encouraged people to come out and support the cause alongside them.
“It’s so easy to get discouraged. You know, you’re alone, you feel like you can’t do anything. But I know some of these protests have had effects. People feel together in doing this,” said Fran Ludwig, a local resident and member of the Creation Care team at Sacred Heart Parish.
“I think the only way we’re gonna solve this problem is if citizens rise up and make our desires known as we should in a democracy,” she said.
Does anyone else not notice the irony of protests against CITIZENS Bank? Maybe protestors would prefer to do business at NON-Citizens Bank!