MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Twin Cities Residents Receive JFK Profile in Courage Award for Response to Federal Immigration Operation

BOSTON, MA (June 1, 2026) The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation on Sunday awarded its 2026 Profile in Courage Award to the people of Minneapolis and St. Paul, recognizing the community-wide response to Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale federal immigration enforcement operation that took place across the Twin Cities between December 2025 and February 2026.

The award was presented during a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, where four Minnesota community leaders accepted the honor on behalf of Twin Cities residents.

According to the Kennedy Library Foundation, the award recognizes residents who organized peaceful demonstrations, documented enforcement activity, supported immigrant families, and built community assistance networks during the federal operation.

"The people of the Twin Cities demonstrated compassion and unwavering commitment to democratic values under extraordinary circumstances," the foundation said in announcing the award.

Operation Metro Surge drew national attention after federal authorities deployed thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel across the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Federal officials described the initiative as one of the largest immigration enforcement operations conducted in recent U.S. history.

The operation prompted widespread reactions throughout Minnesota. Community organizations, faith institutions, schools, labor groups, legal advocates, and neighborhood volunteers mobilized to provide information, legal resources, transportation assistance, food support, and other services to families affected by the enforcement effort.

The Kennedy Foundation cited the broad coalition that emerged during the operation, noting that residents from diverse religious, racial, ethnic, and political backgrounds worked together in support of impacted communities.

Accepting the award on behalf of Twin Cities residents were:

• Imam Yusuf Abdulle, co-founder of the Somali American Leadership Table

• Carolina Ortiz, Associate Executive Director of COPAL

• Natalie Ehret, founder of Haven Watch

• Zena Stenvik, Superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools

Each represented a different sector of the community response, including faith leadership, immigrant advocacy, grassroots organizing, and public education.

The foundation noted that residents participated in peaceful demonstrations, organized rapid-response networks, documented enforcement activity, and provided assistance to families navigating the effects of the operation.

The Profile in Courage Award was established in 1989 by the Kennedy family and is named after President John F. Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage. The award traditionally honors public officials and civic leaders who demonstrate political or moral courage in the face of significant opposition or personal risk.

The decision to honor an entire metropolitan community is rare in the history of the award.

Minnesota U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who attended the ceremony, said the recognition reflected the actions of ordinary residents rather than elected officials.

"This didn't go to an elected leader for a reason," Klobuchar said. "It's because the people stood up."

The foundation also awarded a 2026 Profile in Courage Award to former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for his defense of the Federal Reserve's institutional independence.

For the Twin Cities, Sunday's recognition places Minnesota residents alongside a distinguished list of past Profile in Courage recipients and highlights a chapter of recent state history that drew national attention.

The award recognizes what the Kennedy Foundation described as a community that responded to a period of uncertainty not with division, but with civic engagement, mutual support, and collective action.

About the Profile in Courage Award

The Profile in Courage Award is presented annually by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to individuals or groups whose actions demonstrate politically or morally courageous leadership. Established in 1989, the award is inspired by President Kennedy's book Profiles in Courage and is considered one of the nation's most prestigious civic honors.

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