GBH

Citizens Bank ends relationship with ICE prison companies after months of protest

GBH | By Trajan Warren

Published July 21, 2026 at 9:59 AM EDT

Citizens Bank announced Friday it would end its relationship with ICE prison companies, more than two months after Rev. John Edgerton, senior minister of Back Bay's Old South Church (center) led a rally of clergy and religious activists protesting Citizens Bank.

Citizens Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in New England, announced it will be ending its financial relationship with prison companies connected with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This decision comes after months of public outcry and hundreds of millions being divested from Citizens' due to its relationship with Core Civic and The GEO Group — two companies that invest and operate in prisons used to detain ICE arrestees.

Peyton Fleming is spokesperson for the De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition, a volunteer group against Citizens' involvement with these prison companies.

He said withdrawal by Citizens Bank — the second largest bank in Massachusetts by local deposits — is a "huge win."

"We've been pushing them on this issue for 6 months. The pressure was growing and it appears that they have caved," Fleming said.

Fleming said the De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition is waiting on written assurances from the bank that they will actually end its relationship with Core Civic and The GEO Group.

"There's still work to be done to be absolutely certain that they are doing what they say they are doing, but it certainly appears that they are getting out of this business," he said. "It's long overdue."

This decision also comes on the heels of the city of Montclair, New York withdrawing nearly $91 million from Citizens Bank. Jersey City also announced plans to pull out more than $265 million from the bank.

Fleming said that another $25 million was withdrawn from Citizens Bank by individual customers and local organizations who disapproved of the bank's relationship with Core Civic and The GEO Group.

"The financial pain has been growing almost daily," Fleming said. "Citizens saw the writing on the wall that they just couldn't stay in this business. They were getting tarnished from a reputational point of view and from a financial point of view."

Rev. Ray Hammond is a member of the executive committee of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, which has had an important role in the protests against Citizens Bank.

Hammond said that this decision from the bank was "another indication that democracy can work."

"When people see a wrong being perpetrated, they can organize," Hammond said. "They can build alliances and they can force big institutions and entities to do the right thing."

Hammond said that they will be asking for a timeline of the ending of the relationship between Citizens and the ICE prison companies.

"20 years ago, we knew a Citizens Bank that was a friend to economically challenged communities and to immigrant communities," Hammond said. "We'd love to see that Citizens again. Not a Citizens that's financing the terrorizing of immigrant communities."

In a statement on Friday, Citizens Bank said over the past year they've been "targeted" by several activist organizations about their relationship with Core Civic and The GEO Group. The bank said that Core Civic has been a client with Citizens since 2011 and GEO since 2018.

"To date, we have refrained from commenting directly given our commitment to maintaining client privacy," the bank's written statement said. "However, given recent developments, we feel it is appropriate to comment at this time."

Citizens Bank explained its reasoning in the statement, suggesting it was purely a business decision.

"The federal government recently purchased several facilities owned by CoreCivic and has indicated its intention to purchase a number of others owned by GEO. This has the effect of reducing the required capital of the companies going forward, as they will largely operate as service companies," the statement says. "Given how these companies' capital needs and financing structures have evolved, and their reduced need for a bank with Citizens' full range of capabilities, Citizens has determined that it is now appropriate to exit the credit facilities for these clients. This is a business decision based on changed commercial circumstances and does not reflect any change in our view regarding these companies' business models or operations."