Best Community Organizer
Thomas Kennedy
While ICE raids are the new horrific norm around the country and intimidation to quiet those who care is high, Thomas Kennedy isn’t staying silent. Born in Argentina, Kennedy lived as an undocumented immigrant first in New Jersey and later in Miami for more than a decade. A policy analyst for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Kennedy always sticks his neck out to bring attention to the people who have been detained or deported. The last few months, he’s been way too busy. But Kennedy is used to hard work. In the past, he helped lead a campaign to close a detention camp for migrant children in Homestead and the effort to restore voting rights in the state for people with felonies. In April, he helped shine a light on Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez, a U.S. citizen who was wrongfully arrested for being undocumented by Florida Highway Patrol even after he proved he was born in this country. With no hints that the government will stop its cruel crusade against immigrants anytime soon, Kennedy will continue to organize and speak out against injustice.