Indivisible Coalition Sets Feb. 6 Protest in Alexandria over Citizens Bank/ICE Connection
CONTACT: Luke Lorenz, Indivisible NOVA West 202/480-1190 [email protected].
ALEXANDRIA, Va—A coalition of grassroots organizations led by Indivisible NOVA West will gather in front of Citizens Bank, 1700 Diagonal Road in Alexandria, on Friday, February 6, from noon-1:30 p.m. to protest the bank’s business dealings with the GEO Group, one of the nation’s largest private, for-profit operators of prisons and ICE detention centers.
GEO Group operates the Moshannon Detention Center in Pennsylvania under a contract with ICE. Moshannon is known for civil rights abuses, use of solitary confinement, lack of food and water, lack of basic hygiene supplies, sleep deprivation, and inadequate medical care.
The rally is part of a multi-state effort to bring attention to Citizens Bank’s role in financing the GEO group’s expansion of detention centers under ICE contracts.
“We want Citizens Bank, and all other companies that provide material support to the cruel and inhumane agenda of this administration’s immigration enforcement agencies, to know that we will not remain silent,” said Luke Lorenz with Indivisible NOVA West. “They cannot act as benign members of our business community while financing these heinous mass detention facilities.”
Lorenz noted while this effort to expose the connection between GEO Group and Citizens Bank began in Pennsylvania, Virginia has had its own dealings with GEO Group. The state ended its contract to operate Lawrenceville prison after reports of gross mismanagement and 12 deaths in 2022.
The protest will include members representing multiple Indivisible groups across Northern Virginia. These groups include Indivisible NOVA West, Indivisible of Franconia, Do Something Indivisible of Alexandria, Falls Church Indivisible, Defending Democracy Indivisible, Fairfax Indivisible, and Indivisible NOVA.
For more information about the Indivisible coalition’s protest of Citizens Bank, visit https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible-nova-west/event/882221/.