Moroccan presence in the United States was rare until the mid-twentieth century. The first North African who came to the current United States was probably Estebanico Al Azemmouri (also called Estevanico), a Muslim Moroccan of Gnawa descent [citation needed], who participated in Pánfilo de Narváez's ill-fated expedition to colonize Florida and the Gulf Coast in 1527.

The Army of Liberation (Arabic: جيش التحرير, Standard Moroccan Tamazight: ⴰⵙⴻⵔⴷⴰⵙ ⵏ ⵓⵙⵍⴻⵍⵍⵉ) was a force fighting for the independence of Morocco.In 1956, units of the Army began infiltrating Ifni and other enclaves of Spanish Morocco, as well as the Spanish Sahara.Initially, they received important backing from the Moroccan government.