We’ve all seen the heartbreaking images: families pulled apart by Border Patrol agents. Kids crammed into tent camps in the blazing Texas heat. Reunited children who barely recognize their parents after the trauma of forced separation. 

But behind it all are private prison companies like CoreCivic and Geo Group, which operate the detention facilities that hold some 60% of detained immigrants. 

It turns out that mainstream financial firms like Fidelity and Vanguard own a combined 20% of CoreCivic—which means that the savings and pensions of people like you and me may be bankrolling the private industry. 

But since Fidelity and Vanguard rely on individual savings, it makes them vulnerable to public pressure. That’s why together, we have the power to force their hand to end their deals with private prisons.  

Private prisons run by corporations like CoreCivic hold some 15,000 immigrants each day. And here’s what’s worse: their stocks have soared since Trump announced the “zero tolerance” immigration policy that has arrests at the border skyrocketing. 

It is a sick reflection of our immigration and prison system that companies like CoreCivic can profit from racism and human suffering. That’s why we need to make it impossible for private prisons to do business, by cutting off their funds from big investors like Fidelity and Vanguard. 

A national spotlight is shining on our nation’s racist immigration policy—and we can use it to call on corporations like Fidelity and Vanguard. Already, companies doing business with ICE have been ending their contracts in response to mass protests of this administration’s immigration policy. Together, we can take the wind out of the sails of the private prison industry by calling on Fidelity and Vanguard to stop bankrolling this massive human rights crisis.