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APRIL 15 - 21
Help De-ICE Citizens Bank during our
Digital Week of Action
On April 23, Citizens Bank will hold its annual meeting, bringing together executives, board members, and investors. We need your help to make sure that they are aware of the damage Citizens is doing to its brand by continuing to bankroll the for-profit ICE detention companies hurting our communities.
We've put together a daily action plan for the week, complete with everything you need to spread awareness and raise the pressure on Citizens Bank — in as little as 30 seconds. Each day includes a story to share, plus an action to take. If you need to skip a day or want to do tasks out of order, that's totally fine. Do what works for you!
BEFORE YOU GET STARTED
Follow us on social media to help amplify the stories we'll be sharing throughout the week!
Scroll to see the whole plan or skip ahead to...
Day One
DAY ONE: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15
LUCIA'S STORY + PETITION PUSH
Sign the petition calling on Citizens to stop financing private prison and detention companies:
https://sign.moveon.org/p/citizens
CoreCivic medical staff repeatedly delayed care for Lucia, who was bleeding heavily in the first trimester of her pregnancy. They finally sent her to a hospital with her arms and legs in shackles. But it was too late.
Once you've signed, share the petition with people and groups that you think will care about this issue. Send a text, an email, or post in groups online. Use this message or write your own for more impact.
Citizens Bank says it helps build strong communities, but it's still financing private prison companies — years after other major banks cut ties. Sign the petition to tell them enough is enough. https://sign.moveon.org/p/citizens
1. SHARE LUCIA'S STORY.
2. SIGN & SHARE THE PETITION.
EXTRA CREDIT!
One of the questions we occasionally get goes something like, "Okay, but aren't all banks bad?" The truth is that most large banks do lend to some industries or companies that many of us find unethical. Fortunately, there are other options.
If you're thinking of switching, we recommend checking out local alternatives, especially credit unions and mutual banks, at GetABetterBank.org.
Day 2
DAY TWO: THURSDAY, APRIL 16
THE CHILDREN'S STORY + HASHTAG TAKEOVER
Thousands of children have been held in ICE facilities, including hundreds for more than the court-mandated 20-day limit.
We want to make sure that the people seeing Citizens' marketing posts get the whole story, so today we're using their favorite hashtags:
#MadeReady
#CitizensHelpingCitizens
#CitizensOfNY
#CitizensColleague
Share this graphic and text on social media or add the hashtags to a post of your own.
Eight major banks walked away from private prison companies in 2019. Citizens Bank didn't. @CitizensBank continues to back GEO Group & CoreCivic, which runs the Dilley, TX ICE prison holding children. Take action: de-icecitizensbank.org #CitizensBank #CitizensHelpingCitizens #MadeReady #CitizensOfNY
1. SHARE THE CHILDREN'S STORY.
2. POST USING CITIZENS' TAGS.
Right-click on image to save.
Day 3
DAY THREE: FRIDAY, APRIL 17
REYNA'S STORY + REVIEW AND RATE
This one's for the current and former Citizens customers. Share honest, relevant feedback about your local branch and any of their apps.
Reyna's son returned from his deployment to learn of her alleged abuse by a GEO Group employee. GEO monitors more than 180,000 people in U.S. communities, with few guardrails against abuse.
We're not providing a pre-written message this time because it's important that your ratings and reviews reflect your genuine concerns and experiences, whether positive or negative. Note that identical messages across platforms may get flagged as "fake engagement" and removed.
1. SHARE REYNA'S STORY.
2. LEAVE A REVIEW.
A few places to consider leaving ratings and reviews:
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Google Maps: Search for your local branch or other branches you've visited. Consider reviewing Google's content policy before posting.
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Apple App Store
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Google Play
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Better Business Bureau
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TrustPilot
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Yelp
EXTRA CREDIT!
Citizens' CEO Bruce Van Saun has talked about how important sponsorships of music and sports venues — especially the Phillies ballpark — are to the company. Our friends at Cooper River Indivisible are calling on the Phillies to reconsider their partnership with Citizens as their 25-year naming rights agreement nears its end.
Day 4
DAY FOUR: SATURDAY, APRIL 18
LUIS'S STORY + EXECUTIVE OUTREACH
Luis had always relied on medication to manage a congenital heart condition. His family says the GEO Group facility where he was held didn't supply it or provide the care he desperately needed.
You may have reached out to Citizens' executives before for other actions. This time, we're asking you to do something a little different by encouraging them to read a story of how GEO Group and CoreCivic are hurting our neighbors and communities.
Dear Citizens Financial Group Leadership Team,
Your CEO Bruce Van Saun recently said, "Our version of banking – being close to our customers, understanding their needs, and being part of their communities – is what gives us the right to win.”
Indeed, Citizens has built a reputation as a community bank at scale, with a commitment to strengthening communities emphasized as a central principle. That's why it’s important to consider how your choice to continue backing for-profit prison companies like The GEO Group (GEO) and CoreCivic is actually impacting communities.
I’m asking you to take a few minutes today to read the story of Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres, who came to the United States nearly two decades ago, built a life here, and died in a GEO Group facility earlier this year.
Banks are an important pillar of any community and, as you have affirmed, they have a responsibility to the communities where they operate. By supporting CoreCivic and GEO, companies with well-documented patterns of holding people in unsafe and inhumane conditions, Citizens is failing to take that responsibility seriously. Please reconsider your support of CoreCivic and GEO.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[City, State]
1. SHARE LUIS'S STORY.
2. EMAIL CITIZENS' C-SUITE.
Bruce.VanSaun@CitizensBank.com
Kristin.Silberberg@CitizensBank.com
Matthew.Boss@CitizensBank.com
Richard.Stein@CitizensBank.com Rory.P.Sheehan@CitizensBank.com Peter.Lucht@CitizensBank.com
Frank.Quaratiello@CitizensBank.com
Use our pre-filled email, or write your own to these recipients:
Tip: If you're writing your own message, think about stories about GEO Group and CoreCivic that have stuck with you. It may be helpful to consider what convinced you that these companies are harming our communities. Make sure to let the recipient know if you are a current or former customer. As always, we encourage respectful interactions.
Day 5
DAY FIVE: SUNDAY, APRIL 19
BILL'S STORY + BOARD OUTREACH
Send an email to some of the Citizens Financial Group board of directors to respectfully encourage serious conversations about the bank's relationships with CoreCivic and GEO Group. Customize the provided message or, for greater impact, draft one in your own words to any or all of these board members:
Bill Rogers worked for the CoreCivic in 2016 and is still haunted by an inmate's death that the company did not report for six days. The inmate was a sweet, funny kid who reminded Rogers of his own son. Calling an ambulance quickly could have saved him.
1. SHARE BILL'S STORY.
2. CONTACT BOARD MEMBERS.
Lee Alexander - lee.alexander@theclearinghouse.org
Christine Cumming - cc3975@columbia.edu
Michele N. Siekerka - msiekerka@njbia.org
Christopher Swift - christopher.j.swift@thehartford.com
Claude Wade - claude.wade@aig.com
Marita Zuraitis - marita.zuraitis@horacemann.com
Dear Members of the Citizens Financial Group Board of Directors,
I’m writing to you to express my deep concern about Citizens Bank’s financial relationships with the for-profit prison companies CoreCivic and GEO Group.
In 2019, eight major banks — JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, and others — pledged to stop doing business with CoreCivic and GEO Group. Citizens did not. Since then, Citizens has played a key role in helping the two companies access more than $2 billion in financing.
Citizens Financial Group has committed to a healthy and sustainable future, as noted in the company’s 2024 Sustainability & Impact Report. Citizens’ engagement with 100% of oil & gas clients to identify opportunities to support initiatives to reduce emissions is evidence of its commitment to addressing its clients in sectors presenting environmental risk. The same report also addresses social risk, with Citizens committing to “only engage in business relationships with individuals or entities of reliable reputation and sound character."
The for-profit prison industry is a clear example of a sector rife with social risk. The two largest companies in the industry, GEO Group and CoreCivic, have a long, well-documented record of medical neglect and preventable deaths in their facilities, federal audits finding patterns of widespread understaffing, repeated violations of their government contracts, and ongoing class-action litigation alleging systematic abuse.
I ask that the board consider, given this record, whether either of these entities should be considered to be of "reliable reputation and sound character." If the answer is no — and I believe it clearly is — then Citizens' continued financing of GEO Group and CoreCivic represents a failure to apply a risk management standard to which Citizens has publicly committed.
To live up to this standard and its stated commitment to “fostering strong communities,” Citizens must stop financing GEO Group and CoreCivic. This is not a request for Citizens to adopt new values, but instead to live by the values it has already declared.
I hope Citizens’ board, given that it is composed almost entirely of independent directors, will bring diverse perspectives on risk management that will aid management in understanding the conflict between living the company’s values and lending to for-profit prison operators that have demonstrated a track record of harmful behavior.
Respectfully,
[Your Name]
[Your City, State]
P.S. To see how CoreCivic and GEO Group impact communities, I encourage you to visit
de-icecitizensbank.org/impact
Day 6
DAY SIX: SUNDAY, APRIL 20
RODNEY'S STORY + INVESTOR EDUCATION
After a lifetime in the U.S., father, husband and double amputee Rodney Taylor faces declining health in CoreCivic's Stewart ICE facility in Georgia where he has been held for more than a year.
1. SHARE RODNEY'S STORY.
2. EDUCATE INVESTORS.
We originally planned to ask you today to email representatives of Citizens' two largest shareholders, Vanguard and BlackRock, but the truth is these two companies are unlikely to be responsive to concerns about Citizens backing CoreCivic and GEO Group.
We know that because Vanguard and BlackRock are also the largest shareholders of CoreCivic and GEO Group.
So instead of reaching out to institutional investors enabling the for-profit prison industry, we're asking you to help spread the word about who else is profiting from the system: millions of Americans, most of whom don't even realize they are part of it. Share this explainer on social media to educate your friends and family about how companies like Citizens, Vanguard, and BlackRock funnel our savings into private prisons.
EXTRA CREDIT!
Citizens Bank isn't the only one with money tied up in CoreCivic and GEO Group. In fact, more than 90% of the two companies' shares are held by institutional investors — companies that manage millions of Americans' retirement savings.
Find out if you're unwittingly investing in for-profit prisons and learn how to divest at prisonfreefunds.org.
Day 7
DAY SEVEN: MONDAY, APRIL 21
YOUR STORY + KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING
1. REPOST ANY OF OUR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS FROM THE WEEK, ALONG WITH A PERSONAL NOTE.
Today, we're asking you to repost any of our social media posts from this week, adding a note or comment on why this issue matters to you. If you're a former Citizens customer and switched banks, or a current customer who plans to do so, make sure to share that in your note.
Click an icon to see our recent posts.
2. SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S SHAREHOLDER MEETING
On Thursday, April 23, as Citizens Bank holds its annual shareholder meeting, members of the De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition will be right outside for The People's Shareholder Meeting to De-ICE Citizens Bank.
We hope to see many of you there, but you have a role to play even if you can't make it. Share this message on your favorite platform and keep an eye out on 4/23 for posts from the event!
On Thursday, we take it to their doorstep. Join us outside Citizens Bank's annual shareholder meeting in Providence. If you can't be there, make some noise online. de-icecitizensbank.org #DeICECitizensBank #CitizensBank https://bit.ly/4mgpTKR
EXTRA CREDIT: HELP US THANK OUR FRIENDS!
We've been working hard to raise awareness of the bank's key role in the private ICE detention system, and we haven't been alone! Aligned organizations and content creators have amplified our message to help us reach hundreds of thousands of people in recent months. Show these awesome folks some love by following them on your favorite platform. You won't regret it—they're really cool!
LIST & LINKS COMING SOON
(We have LOTS of people to thank!)
It has never been more important to hold corporations accountable for their choices.
THANK YOU FOR WORKING TO DE-ICE CITIZENS BANK.
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