Organization Calls For Bondholders To Step Away From Wyatt Prison

CENTRAL FALLS, RI — A Rhode Island-based organization is calling for two bondholders to step away from Wyatt Detention Center. The prison has been blasted by several organizations for months after it partnered with I.C.E. to house detained immigrants.

The letters were sent to Invesco Ltd. and Eaton Vance Corp. by the Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance. The two companies are among largest bondholders of the prison, which is qusi-public and non-profit.

The Wyatt-I.C.E. partnership was established early this year. Since then, hundreds of protestors have raised their voices in opposition, culminating with a peaceful protest that became violent when a truck drove into a crowd of protesters outside the prison in August. Just one day later, the correctional officer connected to the incident stepped down. On Oct. 23, Rhode Island attorney General Peter Neronha announced that no criminal charges would be filed in connection with the incident.

In April, the bondholder companies filed a lawsuit against the city of Central Falls to keep the I.C.E. detainees at the prison.

The alliance is calling for both companies to divest all financial stakes in the prison and pay restitution to the families of the immigrant detainees. Company executives declined to speak with the alliance members, but copies of the letters were left, the organization said.

"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 of the organization in a statement. "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."

Four other bondholders received similar letters as well: BlackRock, Inc., Legg Mason, Inc., Credit Agricole Group and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.