Statistics on West African Immigrants in the United States
These statistics were compiled by Ciata Victor, webmaster of TLC Africa website.
At the start of this project, my goal was to determine the number of Liberians living in the United States. As through as I tried to be, I soon realized that I would only be able to collect a subset of the information on Immigration, because until the 1980s, information on Liberians entering the US, was not separated into it's own category. Although some previous statistics were not available, the 2003 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics , provided valuable information on "The Number of Liberians in the United States". At best, this is only an estimate. Immigration is fluid and numbers regarding death, relocation outside the US and other similar types of statistics were not taken into consideration for this publication.
Immigration data was evaluated and compiled from the following categories
- Enforcement - to determine the number of Liberians deported
- Immigrants - to determine the number of Liberians with Green Cards
- Naturalizations - to determine the number of Liberians with US Citizenship
- Refugees/Asylums - to determine the number of Liberian Refugees and Asylum
- Temporary Admissions - to determine the number of Liberians on TPS / DED
United States Visa Classification
Nonimmigrant Visas - Temporary in their nature, nonimmigrant visas apply to those who want to enter the USA for a specific yet temporary purpose such as a visit, study or work.
Immigrant Visas - Those who successfully apply and are granted an immigrant visa are provided with permanent residency status and are issued a "Green Card"
Refugees - any person who is outside any country of such person's nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, is outside any country in which such person last habitually resided, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Asylum - may be granted to people who are already in the United States and are unable or unwilling to return to their home country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Prior to 1980, the primary reasons for Liberians entering the US, were Business, Pleasure, Student and Exchange Visitation, with majority of them returning at the end of their stay. After the Coup on April 12, 1980, migration of Liberians started, and new classifications were added to their immigration status including Immigrant, Asylum and Refugee.
Liberians as a separate category did not show up in the US census until 1990, when 8,797 persons listed themselves as having at least one Liberian Ancestry. By 2000, the number had almost triple to 25,575. On the question of TPS, I could only find estimates, the current estimates for the number of Liberians on TPS in 2004, was between 15,000 - 20,000.
I was able to find some statistics on Liberian Settlement and Refugees in the UK. UNHCR, estimates that by the end of 2002, 250 Liberians had been admitted into the UK as Refugees. According to the UK Home Office, 3,015 Asylum Applications were received between 1990 and 2003 from Liberian nationals, and 2,770 decisions were made.
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- EL - Exceptional Leave
- HP - Humanitarian Protection
- DL - Discretionary Leave
Between 1997 and 2003, 537 Liberians had been granted British Citizens.
Conclusion
The number included in this publication, does not include children of Liberian immigrants, non-immigrants and Refugees, born in the United States.
Although I showed the number of Liberians listed in the 1990 and 2000 US Census, those numbers were not included in the statistics total, because a portion of their numbers would have been counted on entry into the US, and the others considered US citizens, because they were born in the US.
Remember, this is only an estimate. Thanks for visiting TLC Africa, Website, and I hope you find our website informative and this statistic useful. For questions, comments and opinions, contact Ciata by email at toadoll@gis.net
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West Africans Immigrants who Entered the US between 1989 and 2003 - This does not include numbers for nonimmigrants, refugees, asylees and adopted orphans |
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| Table 2 |
1989
|
1990
|
1991
|
1992
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
| Liberia |
1,175
|
2,004
|
1,292
|
999
|
1,050
|
1,762
|
1,929
|
2,206
|
2,216
|
| Ivory Coast |
98
|
184
|
347
|
259
|
250
|
268
|
289
|
432
|
430
|
| Ghana |
2,045
|
4,466
|
3,330
|
1,867
|
1,604
|
1,458
|
3,152
|
6,606
|
5,105
|
| Guinea |
45
|
67
|
84
|
104
|
102
|
97
|
152
|
220
|
158
|
| Cameroon |
187
|
380
|
452
|
236
|
292
|
305
|
506
|
803
|
898
|
| Nigeria |
5,213
|
8,843
|
7,912
|
4,551
|
4,448
|
3,950
|
6,818
|
10,221
|
7,038
|
| Sierra Leone |
939
|
1,290
|
951
|
693
|
690
|
698
|
919
|
1,918
|
1,884
|
| Senegal |
141
|
537
|
869
|
337
|
178
|
213
|
506
|
641
|
435
|
| Mali |
18
|
34
|
63
|
55
|
51
|
55
|
94
|
124
|
97
|
| Burkina
Faso |
11
|
8
|
8
|
16
|
11
|
16
|
17
|
17
|
13
|
| Gambia, The |
71
|
170
|
159
|
93
|
76
|
93
|
153
|
207
|
176
|
| Guinea-Bissau |
9
|
8
|
14
|
8
|
D
|
-
|
D
|
D
|
24
|
| Mauritania |
9
|
D
|
9
|
D
|
9
|
10
|
22
|
26
|
51
|
| Togo |
29
|
30
|
33
|
45
|
41
|
52
|
83
|
157
|
222
|
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
Totals
|
|
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| Liberia |
1,617
|
1,358
|
1,575
|
2,285
|
2,879
|
2,850
|
27,197
|
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| Ivory Coast |
364
|
305
|
439
|
605
|
630
|
485
|
5,385
|
||
| Ghana |
4,458
|
3,714
|
4,344
|
4,031
|
4,256
|
4,416
|
54,852
|
||
| Guinea |
46
|
6
|
3
|
11
|
16
|
29
|
1,140
|
||
| Cameroon |
691
|
826
|
865
|
795
|
985
|
927
|
9,118
|
||
|
Nigeria
|
7,746
|
6,769
|
7,853
|
8,291
|
8,129
|
7,892
|
105,674
|
||
|
Sierra
Leone
|
995
|
976
|
1,590
|
1,884
|
2,250
|
1,496
|
19,133
|
||
|
Senegal
|
373
|
370
|
555
|
665
|
530
|
522
|
6,872
|
||
|
Mali
|
83
|
72
|
109
|
120
|
106
|
125
|
1,206
|
||
|
Burkina
Faso
|
14
|
17
|
48
|
68
|
64
|
60
|
388
|
||
|
Gambia,
The
|
227
|
183
|
232
|
391
|
343
|
263
|
2,837
|
||
|
Guinea-Bissau
|
165
|
134
|
204
|
274
|
290
|
177
|
1,307
|
||
|
Mauritania
|
78
|
24
|
88
|
117
|
124
|
131
|
698
|
||
|
Togo
|
246
|
254
|
388
|
489
|
935
|
1,188
|
4,192
|
||
|
Total
|
239,999
|
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Statistics on Liberians in the United States
Liberians who entered the United States between 1980 - 2003
| Liberians Admitted into the US under various classifications | Estimates of the number of Liberians in the US, using Immigration value for number of Refugees | Estimates of the number of Liberians in the US, using UNHCR value for number of Refugees |
| Nonimmigrant Admitted |
41,631
|
41,631
|
| Immigrants Admitted |
27,197
|
27,197
|
| Visitor |
14,000
|
14,000
|
| Refugees Arrival in the US |
16,904*
|
27,076*
|
| Refugee-Status Applications Approved |
981
|
981
|
| Immigrants-Orphans Adopted by US Citizens |
22
|
22
|
| Deportable Aliens Located by Status at Entry * |
102
|
102
|
| Aliens Removed by Deportation |
-420
|
-420
|
| Total number |
99,607
|
110,589
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* UNHCR reports that by September 30, 2003, , 27,075 refugees had arrived in the United States, this is 11,251 more then the 16,904 number I tallied using numbers from the 2003, Immigration Year Book. If the number of refugees is adjusted to UNHCR number, the total number of Liberians in the US will be estimated at 110,589.
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