Call for Nation-Wide Week of Action to Divest Prudential from GEO Group

Call for a week of action from September 23th to September 30th to divest Prudential from GEO Group, which is financing immigrant detention centers and prisons.

Prudential Financial is one of the largest investors in GEO Group, a private prison company that operates various immigrant detention centers and prisons around the country. Over 60% of people in ICE detention are held in private facilities and GEO Group is the single largest ICE contractor. Additionally, GEO has been subject to many lawsuits regarding inhuman conditions, improper medical care, torture, forced labor, sexual abuse, and deaths at their facilities.

GEO Group is trying to open an immigrant prison in Baldwin, Michigan on October 1st. When it opens, it will be the only “Criminal Alien Requirement” facility in the entire Midwest. On August 13, 2019 No Detention Centers in MI demonstrated outside of Prudential’s Regional Office in Troy, MI demanding that they divest from GEO Group. To escalate the campaign against Prudential, to pressure them to cut ties with GEO Group, we are calling for a nation-wide week of action from September 23-30. This divestment campaign is just one part of the larger struggle against the deportation machine and mass incarceration. We are acting in solidarity with all other groups and individuals engaged in this struggle in different ways.

At any time between September 23 and September 30, find the Prudential Financial location nearest to you and SHOW UP with others from your organization (if you are part of one), your friends, your voice, a sign, a letter, and demand that Prudential divest from GEO Group and all other private prison companies. If you or a friend/family member have money invested through Prudential Financial, encourage them to divest, or call and tell your financial advisor that your money will not be used to fund GEO Group torture and imprisonment.

Here are some ways to engage/get involved in this week of action against Prudential:

• Picket line

• Flash mob

• Letter delivery

• Call-in / phone zaps

• Pass out flyers/literature outside of Prudential offices

• Other demonstrations

This year, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, SunTrust, BNP Paribas, FifthThird Bank, and PNC Bank have all made firm commitments to stop financing the private prison industry in response to public pressure. While the nature of Prudential’s ties to the industry is different (holding stock vs providing credit), the moral imperative for them to sever ties is the same, and they should also give in after sustained public pressure.

Here is a map of the largest Prudential offices around the country:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=16nh09sdhhf7NYhDRJtR4JYk24enREVUj&usp=sharing

And here is a map of all Prudential-affiliated offices in Michigan:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1j59BR1rGSg367FyWP6S0qV4-jTGCJnFd&usp=sharing