BREAKING: On July 23, the England Airpark board introduced a resolution that would require anyone who wants to protest, pray, or hold a vigil on airpark property to file a permit application at least 10 days in advance.

Dozens of residents showed up for a tense public comment period.

"Peaceful protest is often the only tool communities have to demand accountability," said Alexandria resident Violet Wild at the meeting. "This resolution goes far beyond safety measures. This is not about safety. This is about control."

Fellow resident Patrick McGinty challenged the board members directly: "This is the stuff of dictators and authoritarians, not the land of the free that I used to know. Do you want to be remembered as un-American politicians who cut and denied Alexandrians' free speech?"

This didn't come out of nowhere. It comes right after the latest tax filing for the 528-bed holding facility at England Air Park in Alexandria, Louisiana, revealed that the entity hired to run it isn't LaSalle Corrections, the private prison company, but the "LaSalle Family Foundation" -- its tax-exempt nonprofit arm.

This new information is an opportunity to demand accountability. That's why we are delivering this petition directly to Senator Ron Wyden, the ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees the IRS.

Our Executive Director, Rev. Dr. Shannon Fleck, has seen the evils of England Air Park firsthand.

This is not a company that has earned the benefit of the doubt. This year alone, at least two people have died in LaSalle-operated detention facilities in Louisiana, including Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, 49, who died in ICE custody at the Winn Correctional Center -- a facility federal investigators flagged in 2021 for "conditions that can lead to abuse" and recommended be emptied.

We, the people of faith and conscience, call on Congress and the IRS to:

• Investigate whether the LaSalle Family Foundation's tax-exempt status is being used to shield a for-profit detention operation from public accountability and oversight.

• Demand full transparency into how federal funds and duties flow between LaSalle Corrections and the LaSalle Family Foundation.

• Halt the placement of any child in a facility operated by a company with a disturbing pattern of detainee deaths.

• Reject the England Air Park facility outright, given its documented environmental contamination and its operators' record.

Thousands of progressive Christians and their allies have already made their voices heard against England Air Park and ICE. This time we are hand-delivering your prophetic witness directly to Sen. Ron Wyden -- who has the power to demand accountability at last.

We condemn any plans to imprison children at England Air Park and demand that Congress do its due diligence to investigate these fraud claims and urge the England Air Park Authority to use its power to reject this facility before it opens.