"Not With Our Money, Citizens"
Citizens Bank is financing the companies that run ICE detention centers — facilities where immigrants are held in conditions that violate basic standards of human dignity. As a founding member of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, HBT is joining a collective campaign to demand accountability.
In 2019, sustained pressure from activists and shareholders led eight of the country's largest banks to end their relationships with the private prison industry. Citizens Bank stayed the course — and stepped in to fill the void left by those who left.
Sources: Philadelphia Inquirer (March 2026) · De-ICE Citizens Bank campaign
Citizens doesn't just lend — it leads these deals, organizing other lenders and serving as administrative agent. If the private prison industry's lenders were a football team, Citizens would be the quarterback.
The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization — of which HBT is a founding member congregation — is building collective leverage. The strategy: gather pledges from member organizations and individuals to move money out of Citizens Bank, then meet with Citizens Bank leadership to show them the total amount at stake.
HBT's Tikkun Olam committee is supporting this campaign. Before our members take the GBIO pledge, we'd like to understand how many of us have Citizens Bank accounts — so we know the collective voice we can bring.
The brief form below is for HBT's internal picture only. It is anonymous by default. Your individual response is never shared — only aggregate counts reach the committee.
Do you have a Citizens Bank account?
Anonymous by default. Takes 30 seconds. Helps us understand our congregation's collective stake in this campaign.
Your response goes only to HBT's Tikkun Olam committee as an aggregate count. HBT will never see individual responses or share your information.
The pledge goes directly to GBIO's secure system — not to HBT, not to your rabbi, not to anyone in our congregation. You choose how much information to share. The dollar amount field is entirely optional.
Take the GBIO Pledge →GBIO's privacy notice: Your personal information is stored in secure systems and will not be publicized. Only de-identified aggregate data may be shared with allied organizations or Citizens Bank representatives.
This page will be updated as the campaign develops — including the outcome of GBIO's meeting with Citizens Bank leadership. Watch this space and listen for updates from the Tikkun Olam committee.
Page last updated: April 2026