Efrén C. Olivares
2026-2027 Obama Foundation USA Leader
Vice President of Litigation and Legal Strategy, National Immigration Law Center
McAllen, Texas
Efrén Olivares is the vice president of litigation and legal strategy at the National Immigration Law Center, an advocacy organization dedicated to advancing and defending the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their families. Efrén has spent nearly two decades advancing civil rights through impact litigation, movement lawyering, and advocacy across immigrant justice, economic justice, and democracy defense. He previously led strategic litigation teams at the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Texas Civil Rights Project, where he represented more than 500 families in immigration matters. Efrén remains deeply rooted in the Rio Grande Valley communities where much of his advocacy and legal work has unfolded. Efrén has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to hyper-local, relationship-based changemaking with border communities in South Texas.
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