Trump's new immigration plan was specifically designed to at least unify Republicans. That's not happening.

The immigration blueprint President Trump unveiled Thursday "appears destined for the congressional dustbin, with no clear strategy from the White House to turn it into law and essentially no support from Democrats who control half of Capitol Hill," The Washington Post notes. But White House and GOP officials say that doesn't matter, the Post reports, because the plan is "primarily to showcase the kind of immigration that Trump and Republicans can support ahead of next year's elections."

Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, spent months on the plan, "meeting privately with business groups, religious leaders, and conservatives to find common ground among Republicans on an issue that has long divided the party," The Associated Press says. "Kushner set out to create a proposal that Republicans might be able to rally around, his mission to give the president and his party a clear platform heading into the 2020 elections." So far, the Republican unity has proved elusive.

Conservative immigration hardliners complained that overall immigration levels stay the same — Ann Coulter called the plan a "rube-bait campaign document." More moderate Republicans facing tough re-election fights next year were similarly dismissive. The House and Senate GOP leaders declined to endorse it.

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Even inside the White House, aides celebrated Kushner's "close hold" on the project, one senior White House official told the Post, because that means "no one else gets blamed for this." To be fair, there is no "plan," The Toronto Star's Daniel Dale told CNN's Chris Cuomo on Thursday night. "All reporters at the White House received from the White House was four pages of, like, elementary school graphics outlining some basics of what may be to come." Peter Weber

Editor's Note: This article contained a quote critical of Trump's policy incorrectly attributed to Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.); it was his opponent, Mike Johnston, who said the proposal would accomplish nothing but "build Trump’s wall and keep families apart." We apologize for the error.