The government, which has been mostly focused on asylum seekers crossing the English Channel, is now turning to limiting some pathways for legal migrants.
The package is the first major take on immigration by the hard-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and would limit integration and create more detention facilities.
About 2,000 people have been rescued since Friday, and ships were dispatched to help boats carrying 1,200 more on Monday as disquiet grows about the high numbers undertaking the risky crossing.
As bodies continue washing up in a poverty-stricken part of Calabria, some local residents wonder whether a hard-line government understands what drives migration.