Citizens Bank Divests
Citizens Bank ends financial ties with CoreCivic and GEO Group after public pressure, citing business reasons
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Citizens Bank has announced it will end its banking relationship with CoreCivic and The GEO Group, two of the largest private prison companies in the United States, according to AP News. Both companies run immigration detention centers under contracts with the Trump administration's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
The move comes after a fierce public pressure campaign. Advocates and at least two New Jersey city councils threatened to pull their money from Citizens Bank if it did not cut ties with the private prison operators, AP News reported.
New Jersey Cities Threatened to Pull Deposits From Bank
The pressure campaign targeted Citizens Bank directly at its wallet. At least two city councils in New Jersey voted to withdraw their public funds from the bank unless it ended its relationship with CoreCivic and GEO, according to Newsday. That kind of financial threat from local governments carries real weight for a regional bank.
Advocacy groups also pushed hard on the issue. They framed CoreCivic and GEO as profiting from the administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. The two companies operate detention and deportation centers on behalf of the federal government, WRAL reported.
Bank Says Business Reasons Drove the Decision, Not Politics
Citizens Bank pushed back on the idea that politics forced its hand. The bank said the decision was made for business reasons, not because of political pressure, according to AP News. Banks often cite business risk when stepping away from controversial clients.
There is a business case to be made. The federal government has said it plans to buy several facilities currently run by CoreCivic outright. The government is also in talks with GEO about similar arrangements, Seattle PI reported. That could shrink the companies' need for outside banking services.
CoreCivic and GEO Are Central to Trump's Immigration Push
CoreCivic and The GEO Group are not minor players. They are two of the biggest private prison and detention companies in the country. Under the Trump administration, both have taken on expanded roles running immigration detention centers for ICE, according to Yahoo News.
The administration's crackdown on illegal immigration has driven demand for more detention space. Private companies like CoreCivic and GEO have stepped in to fill that need. Critics say that arrangement turns a profit from human detention. Supporters say it gives the government flexible capacity it could not build on its own.
Citizens Bank Joins a Broader Corporate Retreat From Private Prisons
Citizens Bank is not the first financial institution to walk away from private prison companies. Several major banks, including JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, moved to limit or end ties with private prison operators in earlier years, following similar pressure campaigns, AP News reported.
The pattern shows how advocacy groups and sympathetic local governments can move corporations even when federal policy runs in the opposite direction. Whether Citizens Bank's exit actually harms CoreCivic or GEO financially remains to be seen. Both companies still hold lucrative federal contracts and have other banking options available.
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