Twin Cities given JFK Profile in Courage award for stance against ICE

Pioneer Press on Mar 19, 2026

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ST. PAUL, Minn. — The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award is being given to the Twin Cities this year for resistance to immigration enforcement actions this winter, according to the JFK Library Foundation.

“The people of the Twin Cities responded with extraordinary courage and resolve,” according to the announcement. “Tens of thousands took to the streets to peacefully protest federal overreach and threats to immigrant families and constitutional protections, while others documented enforcement activity and alerted neighbors to federal agents’ presence. Faith leaders organized demonstrations, community groups built rapid-response networks, labor leaders and small business defended workers, and volunteers provided critical support and resources.”

Earlier this winter, the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement deployed more than 3,000 agents to Minnesota, where their tactics were condemned by local political leaders. Protests against the crackdown escalated in the wake of the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Renee Good by an ICE agent. On Jan. 24, intensive care nurse Alex Pretti was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents.

Thousands marched in Minneapolis and rallied elsewhere to protest the actions. Neighbors in Minneapolis and St. Paul offered assistance in the form of food and patrols in front of schools to safeguard children.

The JFK Library Foundation also honored Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell this year for “protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve, which is critical to the stability of the global economy, despite years of personal attacks and threats from the highest levels of government.”

JFK’s daughter, Carolyn Kennedy, and her son Jack Schlossberg will present the awards on May 31 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

Kennedy’s bestselling book “Profiles in Courage” was published in 1956 when he was a senator from Massachusetts. It featured eight earlier U.S. senators who had taken principled stands despite popular and political opposition.

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