Above Photo: Twitter/ @Amornetwork
BOSTON — The Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance and allied groups visited the offices of several investors in the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility across the country Monday in an effort to get them to withdraw investments from the quasi-public prison.
“We call on all investment firms that serve as bondholders for the Wyatt Detention Center in Rhode Island to divest from this institution and stop profiting off of dehumanization and family separation,” said Arely Diaz, organizing director of AMOR. “The Wyatt Detention Center that continues to operate due to federal agency contracts is incarcerating people seeking asylum from violence and torture. We call on these firms to cancel the debts and put people over profit.”
The companies visited in Boston included Invesco Ltd. and Eaton Vance Corp.
Groups also went to the Atlanta offices of Invesco and protested at the New York offices of Credit Agricole and BlackRock Inc.
The group posted images of the action on Twitter as well.
We also visited a branch of @InvescoUS, the largest bondholder in the Wyatt, demanding they financially divest. #ShutDownICE #ShutDownWyatt pic.twitter.com/6KU6OROFeB
— AMOR RI (@amornetwork) November 4, 2019
“We also visited a branch of @InvescoUS, the largest bondholder in the Wyatt, demanding they financially divest,” AMOR tweeted.
A twitterer with the handle #FreeThemAll. ALL., tweeted from the two New York actions.
“Today we hand-delivered a letter to @CreditAgricole, demanding they divest from the Wyatt prison/ICE detention facility in Rhode Island,” the twitterer said. ”@CreditAgricole must stop profiting off of caging people and separating families.”
Today we hand-delivered a letter to @CreditAgricole, demanding they divest from the Wyatt prison/ICE detention facility in Rhode Island. @CreditAgricole must stop profiting off of caging people and separating families. #FreeThemAll #AbolishICE #ShutDownWyatt @amornetwork pic.twitter.com/05GoOpJpWC
— #FreeThemAll. ALL. (@schlemi_eli) November 4, 2019
The letters called for bondholders to withdraw investments from the prison and to donate to bond funds to post bonds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees inside the Wyatt.
In the case of Invesco, in order to “absolve [the] firm’s complicity in this situation and to achieve accountability and justice,” AMOR demanded $1,780,830 towards those bonds.
Bondholders, represented by Missouri-based UMB Bank, National Association, sued the Wyatt’s board of directors and City of Central Falls in April, shortly after the board suspended its contract with ICE. The contract was put back in force later that month following a court order from Rhode Island District Court.
Letters were also mailed to T. Rowe Price Group Inc. and Legg Mason Inc.
Eaton Vance declined to comment.
The other companies did not respond to requests for comment.
—