Jared Kushner is planning to present his immigration plan to President Trump in the coming days as the White House presses ahead with addressing border security and overhauling the visa system.
Speaking at the Time 100 event on Tuesday, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser said he had been listening to officials to learn how best to improve security while also attracting the best and brightest to the U.S.
“We are putting together a really detailed proposal,” he said, adding it would be presented to the president before the end of this week or next.
Kushner's role in helping reform policy has worried immigration hawks who believe his reputation as a New York liberal means he will be too soft.
During the question-and-answer session Kushner added that he hoped to deliver proposals that would be accepted by all sides.
“I do believe that the president’s position on immigration has been maybe defined by opponents as what he’s against as opposed to what he’s for,” he said, adding that the reforms would help stimulate the economy through a merit-based immigration system that would protect wages.
“If you look at the proportion of people that come through our legal immigration system based on family connections compared with economy and you compare that to Canada, New Zealand, Australia, we’re basically the inverse of them,” he said.
He has been working with Kevin Hassett, a White House economic adviser, and Stephen Miller, a White House adviser and immigration hard-liner, on the plan.