Two of the country’s private prison companies.
The following media release was shared with Latino Rebels on Tuesday:
In response to JPMorgan Chase announcing that it will no longer bank private prisons, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO of MomsRising, released the following statement:
“Today’s announcement from JPMorgan Chase that ‘We will no longer bank the private prison industry’ is a tremendous victory for the moms, activists, and the more than 100 organizations in the #FamiliesBelongTogether Corporate Accountability Coalition, which MomsRising coordinates. These more than hundred organizations have worked tirelessly to end JPMorgan Chase’s financing of private prison companies, which are profiting from detention of immigrant families.
“We thank JPMorgan Chase for listening to the voices of consumers and committing to ‘no longer bank the private prison industry,’ and we call on other banks to follow suit.
“Members of MomsRising signed thousands of petitions and delivered letters to their local Chase bank branches from coast to coast as part of the nationwide Families Belong Together Corporate Accountability campaign. Across the country, more than 500,000 people made it clear the funding of private prisons by Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase is unacceptable, including those with the Families Belong Together coalition, Make the Road NY, Candide Group, Presente.org, Center for Popular Democracy, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Hand in Hand, ICCR, LittleSis, In The Public Interest, CREDOMobile, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, La Colectiva de Mujeres, Global Exchange, DailyKos, RAN.org, MomsRising, MamasConPoder, and many more.
“Today’s announcement is a testament to the power of moms and families, but there’s more work to be done. Seventy-one percent of the average daily population in ICE custody are held in privately operated jails, many with documented histories of human rights abuses, and since ICE’s creation, detention centers have reported 176 deaths. MomsRising will not rest until all children and families are reunited and safe. We ask our banks to be part of the solution, not the problem. Women will continue to use our consumer power, ‘the power of the purse,’ until all banks stop financing private prisons.”
***
MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.
