Madeline Kaho and Angelo Ebah participate in the Palm Sunday Path demonstration in support of immigrant rights at the Bismarck Capitol on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota’s immigrants need community members to stand behind them, a Bismarck nonprofit leader said Sunday afternoon.
“We do not have to agree on everything to agree on this: human dignity is not optional,” said Jasmine Tosseth-Smith, executive director of Bismarck Global Neighbors, an organization that helps immigrant families resettle.
Her comments, delivered from the steps of the state Capitol, came as part of a religious demonstration held partly in response to the immigration policies of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Participants in the Palm Sunday Path event walk to the Bismarck Capitol on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)
The core message of the event, called the Palm Sunday Path, was “caring for the sick, feeding the hungry and welcoming the stranger,” a reference to a Bible verse. It was one of many similar demonstrations held Sunday in cities around the country.
An estimated more than 400 people attended Bismarck’s Palm Sunday Path, volunteers said. Attendees walked from Trinity Lutheran Church to the Capitol, where a short service took place. During the event, worship leaders sang songs, read Bible passages and delivered sermons.
In an interview, Tosseth-Smith said the federal government’s immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis has caused the immigrants she works with to be terrified. Even though immigration agents’ presence in Minnesota has tapered somewhat, many still don’t feel safe, she said. About 25 of the families Bismarck Global Neighbors supports are still afraid to go out in public because they’re worried about encountering immigration agents, according to Tosseth-Smith.
She said she wants North Dakotans to understand the common values they share with immigrants. Many families have sacrificed everything to come to the United States in pursuit of a better life, she said.
Immigrants are part of North Dakota’s fabric, said Tosseth-Smith, who came to the U.S. from Zimbabwe.
“Today, we’re still shaped by newcomers,” she said.
Rev. John Muhorana, a Congolese immigrant and pastor at a Bismarck church that serves African immigrants, was one of several church leaders in attendance.
Muhorana’s congregation has also been deeply shaken by the operation in Minneapolis, he told the North Dakota Monitor previously.
He said he was touched to see the number of people who participated in Sunday’s demonstration.
“This is a very big revival,” Muhorana said.
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