In another time, it might have been considered just a basic act of common decency.

But this year, with politicians and others fanning fears about immigrants and calling for a ban on Muslims entering the country, it took an act of courage for Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy to defend the settlement of Syrian refugees in the United States, a panel of judges said.

Malloy, who personally welcomed a family from the war-torn country to New Haven after the governor of Indiana had turned them away, was honored on Sunday as the 26th recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

“As half of US governors, leading presidential candidates, and countless others across the country voice support for a ban on Syrian refugees from entering the United States, Governor Dannel Malloy took a stand against the hateful, xenophobic rhetoric,’’ said Jack Schlossberg, President Kennedy’s grandson, at a ceremony at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

“In doing so, he put principles above politics and upheld my grandfather’s vision of America that, he said, ‘has always served as a lantern in the dark for those who love freedom but are persecuted, in misery, or in need.’ ’’

Malloy’s decision to allow the family to settle in Connecticut came less than a week after a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in and around Paris left 130 people dead. A few weeks later, a couple in San Bernardino, Calif., killed another 14 people.

The attacks inflamed fears of terrorism and inspired anti-refugee proposals throughout the country. More than half of the nation’s governors, including Governor Charlie Baker, declared that Syrian refugees would not be welcome in their states, the judges noted.

They said Malloy could have remained silent, which may have been the more politically expedient choice. Instead, he welcomed the couple and their 5-year-old son, who attended the ceremony on Sunday.

“He’s a true humanitarian,’’ said Fatema, the wife, whose last name wasn’t provided to protect her family. “He treated us with dignity. He reminded me that the world still has good people.’’

After accepting the award, Malloy spoke of how he received hate messages after welcoming the family, which had been thoroughly vetted, like other refugees.

“America has to be that shining place, that special place, that will never ever fail to lead, as it must,’’ he said. “When someone defames immigrants, Americans need to say: Not in my land, not in any land.’’

He added: “We are a land of immigrants.’’

The United States has resettled only about 3,000 refugees from the civil war in Syria, which began in 2011, said Chris George, executive director of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services in New Haven, which helps find homes for refugees and immigrants.

Connecticut has taken about 100 and expects to settle another 100 by the end of the year, he said. President Obama has pledged to resettle 10,000 Syrians in the United States by the end of the fiscal year.

The judges said Malloy was chosen from several thousand potential candidates for the award, which was named for Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Profiles in Courage.’’ It tells the stories of eight US senators who risked their careers by taking principled, unpopular positions.

Last year’s recipient was former South Carolina congressman Bob Inglis, a Republican who lost to a Tea Party candidate after he spoke about the need to address climate change.

Other previous recipients of the honor, which doesn’t come with any monetary award, include former President George H. W. Bush and Liberian peace activist and Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee.

Asked why they chose a second-term Democratic governor of a blue state for taking a position that most Democrats support, the judges said their decision reflected the fraught, anti-immigrant context of the times.

“It should not have been an act of courage for the governor,’’ said Albert R. Hunt, a columnist for Bloomberg View who chaired the 14-member award committee. “It’s accurate to say that Governor Malloy didn’t risk reelection for his actions, and it didn’t cost him his job. But he went against the grain of public opinion.’’ Hunt added: “Our great hope is that in some small way this sends a message to other governors and politicians, maybe even some presidential candidates.’’

After the ceremony, Malloy said he felt an obligation to act after so many other governors had said they wouldn’t accept Syrian refugees in their states.

“I came to the conclusion that someone had to lead a counteroffensive, someone had to remind us who we are, and what we are,’’ he said.

He added: “I don’t think it was an act of courage. It was an act of decency.’’

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.