Trump has signed off on Kushner's immigration plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed off on a new immigration plan being spearheaded by senior adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner that appeared to receive a positive reception from Republican senators briefed on it today.

A senior administration official told reporters after the meeting the president had approved the effort to overhaul America's immigration system and increase border security last week and it should now be considered "the President Trump plan."

Kushner is working to finalize a plan with two major components: Border security measures that would include efforts to secure ports of entry and a package of immigration proposals that would create a more "merit-based" system giving preference to those with job skills rather than relatives of immigrants already in the country.

Under the plan, the same number of immigrants would be permitted to enter the country, but the composition would change.

The White House is also working with Sen. Lindsey Graham on additional legislation that would address the nation's asylum system in an effort to stem the flow of migrants across the border, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to outline the plan.

Several GOP senators who attended complimented the effort, which the White House deemed "productive." Democrats were not in attendance.

"The president and senators discussed a potential plan that would secure the border, protect and raise wages for the American worker, and move toward a merit-based immigration system," White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a written readout of the meeting.

Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona complimented Kushner and the White House.

"They have done substantial work," she told Fox News in an interview at the White House after the meeting.