Efrén C. Olivares

About the Author

Efrén C. Olivares is the Director of Strategic Litigation and Advocacy at the Southern Poverty Law Center. He was the lead lawyer in a successful landmark petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on behalf of families separated under the Zero Tolerance policy. He previously directed the Racial and Economic Justice Program at the Texas Civil Rights Project. His writings on immigration policy have also been published by the New York Times, USA Today, and Newsweek, and he has testified before Congress and at briefings on Capitol Hill about immigration and border policies. Part of his work representing separated families was featured in the CBS News Documentary The Faces of Family Separation, released in October 2019. He has also been interviewed as an expert attorney on immigrants’ rights issues on numerous TV and radio shows, and was featured in John Legend’s “Can’t Just Preach” series.

Olivares was the first member of his family to attend college. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Yale Law School.