US seeks Canadian help to ease crowding at US-Mexico border

The United States is looking to Canada to help cope with the growing number of migrants at the United States' border with Mexico, a State Department spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

A possible trilateral agreement with Canada, the United States and Mexico was on the table as the three countries met in Mexico for the North American Leaders' Summit, spokewsoman Kristina Rosales told Reuters.

The agreement would help thousands immigrate through legal channels, without having to put their lives at risk at the hands of human traffickers, Rosales said.

"Canada has its own specific programs for refuge and migration," Rosales said, telling Reuters ahead of the trilateral talks that the countries would discuss Canada's involvement.

No such agreement was made public immediately after the talks between US President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ended on Tuesday.

US authorities detained 2.2 million migrants at the border with Mexico in fiscal year 2022, a record not seen since World War II.