News and Views

By Eleanor Meeks

This year’s Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Area’s offerings support Just Neighbors and the Immigration Law & Justice Network. 

Just Neighbors is a site of the national Immigration Law & Justice Network, providing legal services to immigrants, asylees, and refugees in Washington, D.C, Maryland and Virginia.

The Immigration Law and Justice Network, located in Annandale, Virginia, is the national organization overseeing 19 sites across the nation from Florida to California and many more in between. 

The Rev. Carlos Reyes Rodriquez is a Deacon in the Peninsula-Delaware Conference and is the coordinator of Hispanic/Latino Ministries. He is also the Culture and Outreach Manager for the Immigration Law and Justice Network.

Reyes Rodriguez is originally from Barranquilla, Columbia, a city along the Magdalena River. He moved to Delaware in 2008 to learn more about Methodism and attend the University of Delaware.

Reyes Rodriguez first felt the call to ministry when he first attended Elkton UMC in Elkton, Maryland.

“I realized how [United Methodists] were able to speak about love and act upon love, and the link between love and social engagement,” he said.

It was at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., where he learned more about John Wesley’s ideal that there is no personal holiness without social holiness. This is where Reyes Rodriguez first experienced his call to be ordained as a Deacon.

“I found my calling to the already existing manifestations of God on the streets. That is why I am a Deacon instead of being a clergy inside of a church, I am called to be a bridge builder,” he said.

In March of 2021, Reyes Rodriguez joined the Immigration Law and Justice Network. 

“We are a small but mighty team of six people that provide resources to each of the 19 sites.” These resources range from financial to communications, programmatic, and administrative resources. This includes assisting the attorneys with their mental and physical health as they support and hear the often traumatic stories of the people they are helping.

In the current political climate, there has been a lot of stress and change within the organization. Reyes Rodriguez explained that while the Immigration Law and Justice Network relies on donations and grants, many of their sites receive federal funding that has been cut, resulting in many attorneys being let go.

Reyes Rodriguez expresses his great gratitude to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) for their continuing support even in times of uncertainty.

Since January 2025, the Immigration Law and Justice Network has been partnering with local churches to amplify advocacy efforts and push against anti-immigration policy through phone calls and letters.

“We think in this time of cynicism in our democracy, a phone call does not generate any impact, but they do. Phone calls, letters, and pressing the legislators to support comprehensive and human immigration policies are important.”

Immigration Law and Justice Network has also provided more than 35 know your rights and ally trainings across the country, helping over 3,000 people know and exercise their Constitutional rights.

The funding and money collected through the Area offering are what helps keep these services going in a time when they are needed more than ever.

“Immigrants are being put in a different constitution, and our government is violating the due process that everyone in the United States is granted,” Reyes Rodriguez said. Having your church do these trainings helps people understand how both the physical building of the church and the members can protect immigrants and support vulnerable communities.

Reyes Rodriguez explained why this is so important: “I think one of the hurdles we need to get over is thinking that justice is a sidekick of being Christian. … Justice is in fact the center essence of who God is and who we are as God’s people.”

Learn more about Rev. Carlos Reyes Rodriguez and why he wears a stole made of Mylar.