After Algeria's war of independence, which ended in 1962, many Algerian students immigrated to the US to enroll in universities. Other Algerians, including scientists and doctors, also emigrated to the US to live there permanently. In the 1990s many Algerians were persecuted in their homeland for their political views which, together with the lack of jobs there, forced many of them to emigrate. However, the European Union limited the number of North Africans who could emigrate to its member countries, which diverted most of Algerian emigration to the US, which had increased the number of work visas for people from North Africa.