Activists and members of the labor union Workers United have sounded off against recent immigration enforcement actions. They might be singing a different tune if they knew that their own union is the largest shareholder in a bank that invests in ICE contractors.
Workers United is the largest shareholder of Amalgamated Bank, which bills itself as a progressive organization and “America’s socially responsible bank.” Two years ago, a CUF investigation exposed the bank for reporting hundreds of millions of dollars to the SEC in investments in fossil fuels, private prisons, firearms, and tobacco.
In light of recent immigration enforcement actions, Workers United and its affiliate, the SEIU, have sharply criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The SEIU’s official website even demands that ICE “end the raids and stop unjust detentions.” However, almost ten million dollars worth of Amalgamated Bank’s investments are in ICE contractors.
In Amalgamated Bank’s Q1 2025 holdings report, these reported investments to the SEC included:
- 38,481 shares worth $1,124,000 in the GEO Group, which manages holding centers for ICE.
- 31,184 shares worth $633,000 in CoreCivic, which operates ICE detention centers.
- 15,429 shares worth $8,115,000 in Axon Enterprises, which provides tasers and other equipment to ICE.
- 902 shares worth $27,000 in Cadre Holdings, which has provided tear gas to US Border Patrol.
Since CUF’s 2023 report, the value of Amalgamated Bank’s investment into ICE facility operators GEO Group and CoreCivic has increased by 44 percent. Both GEO Group’s and CoreCivic’s stock prices ballooned after last year’s election, as almost 90 percent of ICE detainees are held in private prisons. CoreCivic and the GEO Group operate most of the top ICE facilities in the country, including the two largest.
Amalgamated Bank appears to have cut its total number of shares in Axon Enterprises in half in Q2 of 2023 – shortly after CUF released its report blasting the bank for its hypocritical investments.