January 24th National Day of Action against For Profit Prison Investors

January 24, 2012 – MEDIA ADVISORY | Contact: Daniel Carrillo, Enlace 323-514-4048

 Protests against Fidelity & Wells Fargo for their Role in Immigrant Detention

What: Protestors across the country will converge on January 24, 2012, on branches of Wells Fargo Bank, and FMR/Fidelity to demand that they abandon their roles in the nation’s rapidly expanding for-profit immigrant detention system. Click here for a list of actions.

Why:   Over the past three years, hundreds of thousands of non-criminal immigrants have been subjected to excessively abusive treatment in for-profit prisons run for the federal government by the Geo Group (GEO) and Corrections of America (CCA). These big financial institutions are major investors in CCA and GEO, the nation’s two largest for-profit companies. Enlace is coordinating the Prison Divestment Campaign that is asking institutions, public and private, to divest and cut all political ties from the prison industry.

For-profit prison companies, which rely on billions of tax dollars as their primary source of revenue, have successfully lobbied federal and state governments to adopt and implement policies that have led to the incarceration of over one million immigrants over the past three years.  Recent reports by the Houston Chronicle and PBS showed that rape and sexual abuse of detainees is rampant across the increasingly privatized federal immigrant detention system.

Wells Fargo, a recipient of billions of bailout dollars, is a major contributor to politicians who have championed the increased incarceration of immigrants.  Wells Fargo has also played a key role supporting GEO business ventures.

Enlace Executive Director, Peter Cervantes-Gautschi, stated “The United Methodist Church divested its entire holdings from CCA and GEO; these investors should follow the UMC’s responsible investment example.  It is immoral to make $ millions from putting human beings in cages.” The UMC Pension is one of the largest faith-based pension funds in the United States and ranks among the top 100 pension funds in the country.  Prominent hedge fund, Pershing Square Management Fund, divested its over $180 million in CCA holdings after the launch of the Prison Divestment Campaign last year.

Since the divestment campaign began on May 12, 2011. CCA’s stock value dropped from $26.02 to $20.67, a 21% drop at year’s end.  Geo Group stock has taken a similar plunge, from a high of $26.12 on May 12 to $16.75 on December 31, a drop of over 34%. The campaign has hammered steadily at Geo through one of its major investors, Wells Fargo.

End the Deportations and the Raids! Abolish All Prisons! Legalization Now!

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