U.S. Bank among Minnesota companies urging 'de-escalation'

• Key insight: U.S. Bancorp is one of more than 60 Minnesota-based companies calling for "an immediate de-escalation of tensions" in Minneapolis after a second resident was fatally shot by federal immigration agents.
  
• What's at stake: Tension between federal agents and the communities has been rising for weeks amid the Trump administration's ramp-up of immigration enforcement.
  
• Expert quote: "For the past several weeks, representatives of Minnesota's business community have been working every day behind the scenes with federal, state and local officials to advance real solutions. … There are ways for us to come together to foster progress." — open letter by the CEOs of more than 60 Minnesota-based companies.

U.S Bancorp has joined a list of nearly 70 Minnesota-based companies calling for "an immediate de-escalation of tensions" following the killing of a second Minneapolis resident by immigration officials.

CEO Gunjan Kedia is among the dozens of chief executives who signed an open letter Sunday, one day after the shooting death of Alex Pretti by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

In the letter, which was released by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, the CEOs urged state, local and federal officials "to work together to find real solutions" to end the unrest that has been growing for weeks as ICE agents have ramped up their activity in the Twin Cities.

In a LinkedIn post on Sunday, U.S. Bank reposted the chamber's letter and wrote:

"As a member of the Minneapolis business community with thousands of employees in and around the city, we are joining more than 50 Minnesota companies in calling for an immediate de-escalation of tensions and encouraging our state, local and federal officials to work towards a real solution. We can then continue our efforts to build a strong future for Minneapolis."

The Minneapolis-based bank declined further comment Monday.

Tensions in the city have been mounting for weeks amid a sharp ramp-up of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement program. Pretti, an ICU nurse who lived in south Minneapolis, is the second resident to be fatally shot this month by immigration officials.

Renee Good was killed on Jan. 7. Both Pretti and Good were U.S. citizens.

The open letter also drew support from the Business Roundtable, an association of more than 200 chief executives of U.S. companies. The group's ranks include the CEOs of many of the nation's largest banks, such as JPMorganChase, Bank of America, Citi and Wells Fargo.

"We support the call by business leaders in Minnesota — including many of our member CEOs — for cooperation between state, local and federal authorities to immediately de-escalate the situation in Minneapolis," Joshua Bolten, Business Roundtable's CEO, said in a statement sent to American Banker.

U.S. Bank is the largest deposit-holder in Minnesota, with more than 33% of the market share, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. It is the banking subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp , which had $692.3 billion of assets as of Dec. 31.

Unlike the civil unrest that broke out in Minneapolis in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd, the bank hasn't closed any of its branches or suffered any damages during protests.

JPMorganChase, which operates dozens of branches across Minnesota, hasn't closed any of its branches as a result of the latest unrest, a spokesperson said Monday in an email.

In addition to U.S. Bancorp's Kedia, the CEOs of five other financial services companies also signed the letter. Those companies are Allianz Life Insurance Company, Ameriprise Financial, Piper Sandler, Securian Financial and Thrivent.

"For the past several weeks, representatives of Minnesota's business community have been working every day behind the scenes with federal, state and local officials to advance real solutions," the CEOs wrote. "There are ways for us to come together to foster progress."