For decades, immigration officials in the United States have struggled to address migration by children. Often, the political imperative to regulate migration has clashed with the constitutional obligation to ensure fair decision-making processes and the reality that children are uniquely vulnerable.
Efrén Olivares, vice president for litigation and legal strategy at the National Immigration Law Center and one of Time's Most Influential Rising Stars of 2025, will discuss long-running legal fights over the power that immigration officials have over children and the responsibility that officials owe them.
Co-sponsored by the Center for Ethnic Studies and the Humanities Institute.
This event is free, open to the public and welcoming to everyone. Help us plan and tell us you're interested:
About the Speaker
Efrén C. Olivares is an immigrant, human rights lawyer, and writer. He immigrated to the United States from Mexico as a teenager and was the first in his family to attend college.
Efrén is an experienced litigator and has represented clients in federal and state courts, as well as international human rights bodies. He currently serves as Vice President of Litigation and Legal Strategy at the National Immigration Law Center, where he leads a team of lawyers and advocates working for immigration laws and practices that respect human rights. He previously directed the Immigrant Justice Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, where he also served as Director of Litigation and Advocacy. Before that, Efrén was the Director of the Racial and Economic Justice Program at the Texas Civil Rights Project, and has also worked at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and at Fulbright & Jaworski LLP (now Norton Rose Fulbright).
His writings on immigration policy have 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.
Efrén is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Yale Law School. He is an avid soccer fan and enjoys reading books about famous art heists. He lives near the border with his family.
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