Over 100,000 Signed Petitions to be Delivered to Wells Fargo and Chase Branches Across the Country: “Show Some Love to Our Families this Valentine’s Day — Break Up with the Prison Industry, or We’ll Break Up With You”
February 14, 2019 – Today, the #FamiliesBelongTogether coalition, in partnership with Candide Group’s Real Money Moves initiative, is proud to announce the #ShowLove Campaign: a nationwide, grassroots effort with more than 500,000 people expressing their deep concern with Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase funding CoreCivic and GEO Group – and more than
100,000 signing onto the petition to consider breaking up with their bank.
Today, as part of a nationwide Valentine’s Day #ShowLove activation, these petitions will be hand-delivered by thousands of activists to individual bank locations across the country, including branches in Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC, Portland, Ohio, Boston, Baltimore and throughout the Bay
Area. From bringing a band to “serenade” Chase CEO Jamie Dimon at his home with break up songs, to “playdate protests” where families bring their children to hang out at local bank branches, petitioners are demanding that the big banks show some love to the communities adversely affected by family detention — or risk losing customers who aren’t afraid to switch to
new banks.
“The inhumane and cruel conditions that our immigrant families face in these for-profit detention centers have resulted in torture, abuse, and the deaths of children and other vulnerable people in the last few months” said Matt Nelson, Executive Director of Presente.org. “Wells Fargo and
JP should have nothing to do with tearing families apart.”
“Most Americans don’t know where their money spends the night, but when they find out that their bank is investing their money in private prisons, they may want to pursue alternatives” said Morgan Simon, social investing expert and a Founding Partner of Candide Group. “Community
banks and credit unions can serve as great alternatives for people excited to have their money support renewable energy, low-income housing, women and people of color-owned businesses, and other investments that they can really be proud of.”
Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase currently fund GEO Group and CoreCivic, the biggest operators of private prisons and immigrant detention centers in the U.S. Over 60% of immigrant detainees are held in privately owned facilities, and private prisons receive over $1B a year in contracts with ICE – almost $5.5M a day of taxpayer money. There is clear incentive for these
companies to lock up as many people as possible, which destroys communities and continuously violates the bank’s own human rights policies in the process, according to petition signers.
“We were pleased to learn in a recent report that Wells Fargo is no longer actively marketing to the private prison sector,” said Jasmine Rashid of Candide Group, “but we hope that this Valentine’s Day, in the wake of mounting public pressure, the bank can take the next step and explicitly commit to ending their relationship with private prisons.” You can read the full petition and join the movement here.
Partnering Organizations:
(Catholic) Conference of Superiors of Men
Candide Group
CREDO Mobile
Daily Kos
Defending Rights & Dissent
Families Belong Together/National Domestic Workers Alliance
Freedom to Thrive
Global Exchange
Hand in Hand
Jobs with Justice
Make The Road New York
MomsRising/MamasConPoder
Presente.org
Rainforest Action Network
Prison Industry Divestment Movement 