Faith leaders and community organizers meet at the Bismarck United Church of Christ on Feb. 24, 2026, to discuss the upcoming Palm Sunday Path protest march. Pictured clockwise from front are Ross Keys, Rev. Gretchen Deeg, Rev. John Muhorana, Rev. Sylvia Bull and Bill Patrie. (Photo by Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – A pastor at a small Bismarck church made up of African immigrants is one of roughly 20 faith leaders who will be demonstrating at the North Dakota Capitol on Sunday.
The Rev. John Muhorana, who is Congolese, said the federal government’s immigration operations in Minneapolis have left his congregation in despair.
Muhorana said his church members are all legal U.S. residents, mostly naturalized citizens and a few green card holders.
But they’re not confident that status will protect them given widespread reports of immigration agents arresting U.S. citizens — including tribal citizens — as well as permanent residents and others legally living in the country. Across the U.S., immigration agents have detained asylum seekers and those with protected status under the Delayed Action for Childhood program. In one North Dakota case, attorneys alleged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a Grand Forks resident with refugee status.
Muhorana said he and his congregants have struggled to make sense of the federal government’s complicated and quickly evolving immigration policies, especially since they aren’t native English speakers.
Muhorana came to the U.S. after living in a refugee camp in Uganda for 15 years.
He said the expansion of detentions and removals, and the use of highly publicized and aggressive enforcement methods by immigration agents brings up memories of the oppression he experienced in his home country.
Some of his congregants are so terrified to leave their homes that they no longer attend church, he said.
“They were fearing, ‘Maybe today, the police or government will come and pick us up from the church and take us,’” he said.
Muhorana will join other Bismarck faith leaders for a procession from Trinity Lutheran Church to the Capitol in Bismarck on Sunday starting at 3 p.m. It’s part of a series of similar events taking place the same day across the country, including in Fargo. They’re set to take place a day after another nationwide No Kings protest on Saturday, but are not connected to No Kings events.
The message of the nonpartisan event — called the “Palm Sunday Path” — is “caring for the sick, feeding the hungry and welcoming the stranger,” a reference to a Bible verse.
Bill Patrie, a Bismarck organizer, said he hopes the event will be a chance for North Dakotans to show their support for immigrants like Muhorana. He said “welcoming the stranger” is part of North Dakota’s roots.
“That’s who we are,” Patrie said.
Sylvia Bull, an associate pastor at Faith Lutheran Church and another organizer of the event , said she and other Bismarck faith leaders in the future want to host trainings to teach community members to become engaged. They also want to host another Palm Sunday event at the Capitol in 2027, she said.
“Our elected officials need to hear that people in our communities are being really harmed by not only the policies that are happening right now, but also by the rhetoric about immigrants,” Bull said.
This story was updated to clarify the purpose of the event.
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