Children migrating from Latin America to the U.S. have always been part of migration fluxes. But, roughly since the early 2010s, the number of unaccompanied minors began to dramatically and historically surge. It is reaching such levels that the U.S. court system and immigration services find themselves overwhelmed and inadequately prepared to properly process these minors . In this study I intend in two phases to explain the Unaccompanied Alien Children crisis (UAC). First, I assess current studies addressing the subject through an examination of U.S. foreign policy towards Latin America. In that part, I lay out three major eras and their respective policies: the cold war, the war on drugs and the tough on crime, then the mass deportation. I argue that these policies —albeit unintentionally—over the decades to create the crisis.The second phase of the study focuses on Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Through a series of interviews with a variety of stakeholders—community leaders, lawyers, teachers, churches and local organizations etc.— I am looking at how public policies are responding to the crisis in North Carolina and Mecklenburg County.