But the proposal is short of concrete details and omits discussion of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that Democrats have repeatedly said they want resolved. Key Republicans also are not publicly on board.
President Donald Trump is slated to unveil the plan Thursday, the administration officials said. The White House is selling the plan as addressing border security and moving toward a merit-based immigration system, which gives preference to highly-skilled and educated individuals.
"We want to start by trying to anchor the discussion by defining border security, defining what the legal immigration should be and then seeing if we can unite Republicans around it and then also unite Republicans around the fact that we're not looking to change the number of legal immigration," one of the officials said. "We're just looking to change the composition."
Kushner has been working behind the scenes to pull together a proposal designed to revamp the country's immigration system. The plan tries to accomplish six goals, according to officials: securing the border; protecting American wages; attracting and retaining highly-skilled immigrants; focusing on legal migration for immediate family; attracting labor in critical industries; and preserving humanitarian values.
While it's unclear how those goals will manifest, the officials indicated that there would be changes to both family-based migration by focusing on kids and spouses and the diversity visa lottery, which allots a certain number of visas to countries "with historically low rates of immigration to the United States."
Officials said the principles, if implemented, would shift away from a majority of individuals coming into the US based on family ties, to having a majority coming in based on skill and employment.
"I think that a lot of people have tried to define the President based on maybe one thing said on immigration or (at) a different time," one of the officials said. "What we want to do is be very, very clear as to what his ... position is on immigration on those two silos," the official added, referring to border security and the legal immigration system.
Divisions among Republicans
But even within the GOP, immigration is a divisive issue. And if Republicans were to reach a consensus, they'd still have to earn support among Democrats, who control the House of Representatives.
Kushner briefed Senate Republicans on the plan Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation that would, in part, change the asylum process.
When asked if his colleagues would be more likely to support his legislation or an emerging, broader immigration plan crafted by Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Kushner, Graham said, "The White House's plan is not designed to become law."
"This is designed to become law," Graham added. "The White House plan is trying to unite the Republican party around border security and merit-based immigration. I am trying to get some relief to our Border Patrol agents. I'm trying to put a dent in the smuggling business and keep kids from going on a journey that's got to be hell."
One of the officials acknowledged that the White House proposal would be a "much heavier lift."
"Right now, we're working with Sen. Graham and I know he's been working with Customs and Border (Protection) on how to deal with the immediate crisis," a senior administration official said. "This would solve the immediate crisis. But this is obviously a much heavier lift."
The White House plan to overhaul the nation's immigration system, after all, comes against the backdrop of a steep uptick of apprehensions at the southern border. In April alone, the Border Patrol arrested 98,977 migrants for illegal entry, according to Customs and Border Protection data -- an increase from the previous month.
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