Lively crowds of demonstrators turned out in force Saturday at all three Cambridge locations of Citizens Bank as part of a widespread effort to get the bank to stop financing companies that provide immigrant detention facilities for national immigration authorities such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Organizers said the local protests were among 68 across 12 states.
It was a far nicer day than the bitter cold that accompanied the first series of De-ICE Citizens Bank protests that occurred six weeks ago, and the crowds were larger. So was the overall number of demonstrations, which were “nearly double the three-dozen protests we organized just six weeks ago,” Peyton Fleming, spokesperson for the De-ICE Coalition, said via email. “We’re especially excited that Mass 50501 [a political protest group] is now participating in this effort, as well as college groups like Brown Rise Up at Brown University.”
The protests are focused on the bank’s financial ties with private prison companies CoreCivic and The GEO Group, two of the largest operators of immigrant detention facilities in the United States. Fleming said Citizens has helped them raise more than $2.5 billion in financing, including this year.
Citizens Bank said it was aware of the protests but otherwise could not comment. It issued a statement saying, “We do business with organizations that conduct business in a lawful manner and, if we determine that is not the case, we are prepared to exit those relationships.”
The street protest chorus BVOCAL once again performed sing-along protest songs, visiting the Central Square and Harvard Square locations.
“We’re not gonna take it, this bank is funding hatred, we’re not gonna take it, anymore,” the group sang at Central Square.
Also attending was local folk musician Cooper Smithson, who said music plays a key role in protests. “Music brings people together; there’s just something about a chorus singing the same notes at the same time.”
Dave and his wife, Cambridge residents demonstrating at Central Square who declined to give their last names, said they closed their Citizens accounts after they had learned of the bank’s ties with the private prison industry.
“It’s a little bit of effort, but it’s talking with money, and money counts,” Dave said.
At the Harvard Square location, David from Belmont, who also withheld his last name, said he and his wife had also closed their accounts after 30 years with the bank.
“We have been really happy customers of Citizens, it’s convenient, the people are friendly and most are immigrants, and I’m happy that Citizens employs immigrants,” explained David. “Now I’m finding out to my horror that Citizens has, for a long time, been supporting these [private] ICE prisons.”
He said he had written to the bank’s corporate office to complain and was made aware of the response which the bank had provided earlier last week for the Boston Globe, the same response the Cambridge Day received.
“ICE is doing plenty of illegal things, and Citizens is clearly profiting from these relationships,” said David. “It’s a business opportunity for them, but it’s immoral, and I’m not gonna be part of it.”
There were police at each of the three locations as well. Gail Epstein, one of the organizers, told the crowd at the Porter Square location that the officers were there to protect them. A Cambridge police spokesperson said that the department usually deploys officers to protests to ensure public safety, and that, when feasible, officers work with the demonstrators to ensure “they are provided an appropriate space and express their views, while maintaining a safe environment for all.”
All three locations were serenaded by passing cars honking their horns, as well as few city buses. State legislators also weighed in on the action.
State Rep. Marjorie C. Decker, who represents parts of Cambridge, issued a statement of support:
“When people show up, speak out, and organize alongside one another, they strengthen the civic fabric of our community. They remind us that democracy is something we build and protect together.”
She called current immigration enforcement practice “an assault on liberty and the rule of law.”
State Sen. Sal DiDomenico also issued a statement that “These boycotts and protests demonstrate that businesses in all industries will be held accountable for their actions, especially when they support inhumane detention centers.”
A Core Civic spokesperson, Ryan Gustin, sent a statement to Cambridge Day that said “We value the relationships we have with our financial partners. It’s important to note that CoreCivic plays a limited but important role in America’s immigration system.”
Gustin said the company has no say in the arrest or deportation of individuals, and that, “CoreCivic also does not know the circumstances of individuals when they are placed in our facilities.”
That statement did not impress David from Belmont, Citizen Bank’s former customer. “That’s a very nice thing, [they are saying] we just have a box and someone else brings us the people for the box.”
The GEO Group did not respond to a request for comment.
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