The Justice Department is warning U.S. companies it will investigate and prosecute employers that overlook qualified Americans for jobs.
"The Trump administration will be enforcing laws protecting American workers from discriminating hiring practices," said White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
At issue is the controversial H-1B visa program which allows foreign workers to work in the U.S. temporarily.
President Trump has called the system a "cheap labor program," but has yet to end the use of H-1B, and this year's lottery is already underway.
"What I think we're seeing now is not so much a betrayal or a backtracking on promises, as a disappointing missed opportunity," says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
The program is used mostly by tech companies to bring in programmers from other countries.
"The lobbyists have basically hoodwinked Congress and much of the public into thinking these are somehow all Einsteins, when in fact they are not, they're often not even as talented as the American workers they are replacing," says Krikorian.
He's hoping the Trump administration at least gets rid of the lottery system before this time next year.
"Whichever visa application is saying we're going to pay the highest salary, he gets visa number one and then you work your way on down," he says. "That would at least ensure the worst cheap labor exploiters weren't able to get these visas."