Kenyan truck drivers operating out of Omaha? That's what it looked like until Thursday. Here's what happened.
On Monday, Kenyan Insights, an investigative outlet specializing in Kenya and East Africa, ran an intriguing story. Kenya's Principal Secretary for Diaspora Affairs Roseline Njogu had signed a "deal," their words, not mine, with Nebraska Secretary of State Robert Evnen that "specifically targets licensed commercial drivers amid a significant shortage of truck drivers across America." According to the Kenyan insights, "Evnen confirmed...that the agreement provides an organized, legal pathway for Kenyans seeking employment opportunities in the US."
"We began with labor mobility with commercial driver's license; these are skilled truck driving positions. We have a need for that in the Unies States, we have the need for that in Nebraska, and we have training available in Nebraska," Evnen explained duiring the anouncement at the Kenya-Nebraska Beef Trade and Investment Conference.
As one might imagine, this was not met with hosannas of praise.
Kenya just signed a labor mobility pact with Nebraska to supply truck drivers for America’s "truck driver shortage."
— may be danielle 💻🚛🇺🇸 (@maybedanielleee) September 9, 2025
Yet Kenya’s road fatality rate is 28.2 per 100k. That's nearly DOUBLE the global average, four times the Americas, and 400% HIGHER than Europe.
Wow. Yes. What a… pic.twitter.com/z2fW3jxQmI
Kenya just signed a labor mobility pact with Nebraska to supply truck drivers for America’s "truck driver shortage."
Yet Kenya’s road fatality rate is 28.2 per 100k. That's nearly DOUBLE the global average, four times the Americas, and 400% HIGHER than Europe.
Wow. Yes. What a terrific idea.
We seem to be doing everything we can to turn the United States into one of the most dangerous driving environments in the world. All this chaos just to "solve" a truck driver shortage that doesn’t actually exist!
This announcement was startling in several respects. The number of illegal truck drivers on US roads has been under a microscope since an illegal U-turn by an illegal truck crew caused a wreck on a Florida highway that killed three people.
BACKGROUND:
Finally Shutting the Barn Door, Marco Rubio Freezes All Visas for Truck Drivers – RedState
The number of truck drivers demonstrates the scope of the problem, who were ordered "out of service" because they failed a basic English and sign proficiency test at highway inspection stations due to President Trump's Executive Order titled Enforcing Commonsense Rules of the Road for America's Truck Drivers.
Current Enforcement Rate of Donald Trump's Executive Order for English Proficiency of Truck Drivers. Through Week 36
— American Truckers 🚛🦅 (@atutruckers) September 12, 2025
Florida continues to outperform all other states. Wyoming resumes their prior run rate and Tennessee shuts down 28 trucks.
Texas now has moved from 2nd in… pic.twitter.com/eMyTmarDWY
This chart, covering only three weeks, documents nearly 1,000 drivers who were put off the road because they couldn't meet the minimal standards to operate a commercial vehicle.
The second thing that was eye-catching was the alleged proposal to bring in Kenyan drivers to meet a shortage the drivers say doesn't exist. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy seems to back this up. It combines the worst features of Joe Biden's unrestricted immigration program with the out-of-control use of H1B visas to replace American workers with cheap foreign labor who are more or less owned by their employer if they wish to stay in the U.S.
🚨BREAKING: Sec. of Transportation Sean Duffy EXPOSES Scandal! Previous admin handed work permits & CDLs to non-citizens, flooding the market and undercutting American truckers.
— American Truckers 🚛🦅 (@atutruckers) June 27, 2025
This was LABOR DUMPING—plain and simple. ATU believes Hundreds of thousands of our workers suffered… https://t.co/z2NWnPAmbc pic.twitter.com/NOBRQ8CTPX
BREAKING: Sec. of Transportation Sean Duffy EXPOSES Scandal! Previous admin handed work permits & CDLs to non-citizens, flooding the market and undercutting American truckers.
This was LABOR DUMPING—plain and simple. ATU believes Hundreds of thousands of our workers suffered from this ILLEGAL betrayal.
At American Truckers United, we’re praising God for @SecDuffy and @POTUS, who are stepping up for such a time as this. Eternally grateful!
But the fight’s FAR from over. We won’t rest until EVERY American trucker is restored and non-domicile CDLs are BANNED.
Join us! #SaveAmericanTruckers
To make matters even worse and make a lot less sense, the MOU story brought to the forefront another story from the same Kenyan outlet in June, headlined: Kenyan PS Njogu seeks employment partnerships for Kenyan truck drivers with Werner Enterprises in Nebraska, US.
Omaha-based Werner is the largest employer of truckers in Nebraska. The two stories soon became one, and the proverbial poo-poo hit the fan.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said “truckers are outraged” by the agreement. OOIDA President Todd Spencer noted the MOU “is nothing more than an attempt to import cheap labor based on the absurd claim of a ‘driver shortage.’”
“For decades, large carriers have told politicians there aren’t enough drivers, when the real problem is poor pay and working conditions that push people out of the industry,” Spencer said. “OOIDA will strongly oppose any effort to import labor while thousands of qualified, safe American drivers are ready to work if they are treated and compensated fairly.”
Werner Enterprises is at the center of a growing social media uproar, after online rumors claimed the Nebraska-based trucking giant was possibly planning to hire Kenyan truck drivers — rumors the company firmly denies.https://t.co/RmCov772Nu
— FreightWaves (@FreightWaves) September 10, 2025
By mid-week, the CEO of Werner was playing Sergeant Schultz
I literally did a pod cast last week citing the reality that there are more CDL holders than there are jobs available. A bigger issue is that many are not employable due to driving record. As for the thousands that have suffered through a job loss if interested please apply.
— Derek Leathers (@Derek_Leathers) September 9, 2025
Sorry for the typos but these unwarranted / untrue outbursts tend to get me worked up. 😜
— Derek Leathers (@Derek_Leathers) September 9, 2025
and Secretary of State Evnen was in full retreat.
“The memorandum of understanding with Kenya is stated in general terms and says nothing about truck drivers,” Taborek-Potter said. “The MOU requires full compliance with all Nebraska and federal laws, and that includes the president’s executive order on CDL driver requirements and U.S. immigration law.”
According to a news release from the secretary of state, the primary focus of the week-long trade mission was to promote Nebraska corn growers, irrigation technology companies and producers of ethanol and dried distillers grains. There was no mention of truck drivers.
Kenya’s State Department of Diaspora Affairs’ statement was more ambiguous.
“A central pillar of the agreement is to facilitate the placement of skilled Kenyan talent in critical sectors within Nebraska that are experiencing workforce shortages,” the department said.
Land Line obtained a copy of the MOU. The agreement calls for “high-quality apprenticeship programs.” That includes “promoting lawful temporary migration for reasons of vocational education and training and for the purpose of gainful employment including exploring possibilities for seasonal work.”
On Friday, Governor Jim Pillen tried to pour oil on the roiled waters with an official statement: Gov. Pillen Addresses Memorandum of Understanding Executed by Nebraska Secretary of State with the Government of the Republic of Kenya.
The MOU is exclusively between Secretary Evnen and the Kenyan government. The Secretary of State is an independent state constitutional office and is neither directly accountable to the Governor, nor in control of any code agency of state government, including the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). That agency is directly accountable to the Governor, who is likewise principally responsible for conducting the State of Nebraska’s foreign trade activities.
The MOU is nonbinding, was not coordinated in advance by the Secretary of State with either the Governor or any other state agency and does not represent the policy of the government of the State of Nebraska. To be clear, the Secretary of State has no authority over driver licensure and is not part of the consultative process for policy development in that area.
“The Nebraska DMV is the sole state agency responsible for administering state driver licensure laws and consulting on reciprocal licensure agreements,” said DMV Director Rhonda Lahm. “At Governor Pillen’s direction and pursuant to federal law, we will continue to diligently ensure only individuals with lawful status in the United States receive Nebraska driver licenses of any type.”
Gov. Pillen reiterates his strong support for maximizing career opportunities for Americans and ensuring state government does everything possible to keep kids here in Nebraska to explore the countless tremendous career opportunities in our great state, including in our trucking and transportation industry. Nebraska is not only centrally located, but it’s also a hub of America’s national transportation network and home to the headquarters of several major freight transportation companies.
Derek Leathers, CEO of Werner Enterprises, a leading American trucking company specializing in freight shipping and logistics management, provided a supportive statement regarding current state policy and governance over commercial driver licensure: “Werner is grateful for Governor Pillen’s leadership to grow Nebraska, pursue foreign trade opportunities, and connect Nebraskans to great American jobs.”
The tone of the letter gives no cover at all to the Secretary of State. The governor and the CEO of Werner left the him holding his MOU.
We haven't seen the last of this. Kenyan Insights says
Beyond trucking, both officials hinted at expanding opportunities in other sectors. Kenya is considering extending it Mkulima Majuu agricultural program to Nebraska, which could create jobs for Kenyan youth with farming expertise, including agronomists, agricultural engineers, and farm managers. Evnen also suggested partnerships in healthcare and other professional fields.
This Nebraska partnership represents Kenya's broader strategy to address youth unemployment through international labor mobility agreements. Principal Secretary Njogu recently led a delegation to Germany exploring over 200,000 job vacancies, demonstrating the government's commitment to creating overseas employment opportunities for its citizens.
The Mkulima Majuu agricultrual program has been active since 2023 and has placed some 1,500 Kenyan "youth," I say that in quotation marks because no definition of the age range involved is noted, in agricultural jobs in the UK. We aren't the UK, yet, and I find it difficult to believe Kenya can offer anything to Nebraska in the way of human capital.
The story strikes me as one of a nothingburger agreement between Nebraska's Secretary of State and Kenya's Diaspora Affairs chief. The story was pumped up far beyond what was agreed to for polticial purposes in Kenya. When it hit Nebraska media, it did so at a time where illegal and foreign truckers and labor dumping were hot-button issues and created a bit of a firestorm. Hopefully, other people will look at this a take away some valuable life lessons about being associated with anything that looks like displacing Americans from jobs.
