Jun 26, 2019

Bank of America to stop lending to private prisons and ICE detention centers

Ursula Perano

Photo: Robert Alexander/Getty Images

Bank of America told Bloomberg in an interview Wednesday that it will stop lending to companies that run private prisons and immigrant detention centers.

What we know: The move followed a review by the company's environmental, social and governance (ESG) committee, which visited sites and consulted with civil rights activists and experts Vice Chairman Anne Finucane told Bloomberg: "We’ve done our due diligence that we said we would do at the annual meeting, and this is the decision we’ve made.’"

The big picture: Bank of America is at least the third major bank to cut off its business relationship with the industry this year, following JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. For-profit prisons have come under heightened scrutiny recently due in part to reports of migrant children being detained in squalid conditions at border facilities.

Wayfair's employees announced a walkout in Boston on Wednesday in response to executives refusing to stop selling beds to a Texas immigration facility.
Several Democratic presidential candidates, including Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, have proposed banning private prisons entirely.

Go deeper: Axios' special report on how companies profit from prisons

Add Axios on Google

Bank of America to stop lending to private prisons and ICE detention centers

What to read next