Citizens Bank Targeted in Rhode Island Over ICE - Protests Taking Place Across State This Weekend

Citizens Bank Targeted in Rhode Island Over ICE - Protests Taking Place Across State This Weekend

 

A group is calling on protesters to take action against Citizens Bank this weekend, for what they say has been Citizens’ involvement in “helping for-profit prison companies get the cash they need to lock more people away in ICE detention.”

“The GEO Group (GEO) and CoreCivic are the largest private prison companies in the country, and two of ICE's most important corporate partners. More than half of the tens of thousands of people currently in detention are being held in one of their facilities,” said “De-ICE Citizens Bank” in a statement. “They have spent millions of dollars lobbying and donating to the politicians who determine detention policy and budgets. And several administration officials—including Tom Homan, Pam Bondi, and David Venturella—have worked directly for GEO in years past.”

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“Both companies' histories are riddled with serious allegations of severe human rights abuses and misconduct, along with near-constant litigation,” the group continued.

There are protests scheduled at multiple branch locations in Rhode Island this weekend, including Providence, Cranston, Pawtucket, and Bristol. READ MORE

 

Citizens in Focus

The group alleges that Citizens has played an instrumental role as a “financier of the private prison and detention industry since at least 2012.”

“In 2019, in response to grassroots activists and shareholder pressure, eight of the country’s largest banks ended their relationships with the private prison industry. But Citizens Bank stayed the course,” said the group. “Citizens doesn’t just provide loans. The bank also arranges and coordinates complex credit and bond deals, working alongside other banks. If the for-profit prison industry’s lenders were a football team, Citizens would be the quarterback.”

Moreover, the group alleges that Citizens has “played key roles in helping GEO and CoreCivic access more than $2.5 billion in financing, including $100 million in January 2026.”

Citizens Bank did not respond to the request for comment at the time of publication.