Protesters stood outside the Stop & Shop on King Street to protest Citizens Bank and its ties to ICE detention. A branch of the bank is located inside the Stop & Shop.
Reminder Publishing photos by Sydney Wietecha.
NORTHAMPTON — On April 3, members of Indivisible Northampton and local activists gathered on King Street to protest Citizens Bank’s financial ties to companies that operate ICE detention facilities.
The street was lined with protesters standing outside the Stop & Shop on 228 King St., where a Citizens Bank branch currently resides. Those who gathered held their signs proudly and waved to the frequent car horns and affirming cheers that passed.
The protest was organized by Indivisible Northampton, a local activist group that formed in 2022 after merging with Swing Left Western Mass. The group works to get people involved in politics, support progressive candidates and build a strong network of community activists.
“We’re a part of a coalition, the De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition, which is a national coalition, and there’s 70 different groups all across wherever Citizens Bank is located. And our goal is very simple, it’s to get them to stop investing in [and] financing ICE prisons,” said John Majercak, a protest leader for Indivisible Northampton. “There’s two large companies, the GEO Group and CoreCivic. They are notorious for all kinds of human rights violations, deaths in their prison camps. Citizens Bank is the primary financer of these corporations and their prisons.”
Protesters stood outside the Stop & Shop on King Street to protest Citizens Bank and its ties to ICE detention. A branch of the bank is located inside the Stop & Shop. Reminder Publishing photos by Sydney Wietecha. 
Protesters stood outside the Stop & Shop on King Street to protest Citizens Bank and its ties to ICE detention. A branch of the bank is located inside the Stop & Shop. Reminder Publishing photos by Sydney Wietecha. 
Protesters stood outside the Stop & Shop on King Street to protest Citizens Bank and its ties to ICE detention. A branch of the bank is located inside the Stop & Shop. Reminder Publishing photos by Sydney Wietecha. 
Protesters stood outside the Stop & Shop on King Street to protest Citizens Bank and its ties to ICE detention. A branch of the bank is located inside the Stop & Shop. Reminder Publishing photos by Sydney Wietecha. 
Protesters stood outside the Stop & Shop on King Street to protest Citizens Bank and its ties to ICE detention. A branch of the bank is located inside the Stop & Shop. Reminder Publishing photos by Sydney Wietecha.
“Our demand to citizens is to get them to stop being in that business,” he continued.
According to the Indivisible Northampton website, Citizens Bank has deepened its relationship with the private prison industry, taking on new roles in financing both CoreCivic and GEO, all while continuing to tell their customers that they’re focused on strengthening communities.
Furthermore, Citizens Financial Group has been a financier of the private prison and detention industry since at least 2012, according to The De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition, which is made up of dozens of local pro-democracy groups.
In 2019, in response to grassroots activists and shareholder pressure, eight of the country’s largest banks ended their relationships with the private prison industry. But Citizens Bank stayed the course, according to the coalition.
Since 2024, Citizens has played key roles helping GEO and CoreCivic access more than $2.5 billion in financing, including $100 million in January 2026, the coalition states.
Because of these developments, that movement has spread nationwide, including to Northampton.
Majercak emphasized the importance of individual action on a local level: “In the end, the way that we can make change happen is one person at a time … we can’t do it all, but we can do our part, which is to give people courage and let them know that if this is how they think, then they can say something too and to help encourage people haven’t made up their minds yet or are not paying attention to pay attention and to get involved.”
He also encouraged community participation: “If you’re not sure where to start, go to Indivisible Northampton Swing Left Western Mass.’ website or social media, and there’s a million ways to get plugged in. That’s how I got started a year ago. Or a year and a half ago. So, we’re very welcoming. All the local groups are very welcoming, and we always need more help.”
The De-ICE Citizens Bank protests are held every Friday from 12-1 p.m. on King Street, directly outside the Stop & Shop. For more information, visit Indivisible Northampton’s website, https://in-slwm.org.
