Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government is in talks with Mexico to reduce the number of asylum seekers arriving in Canada from there, acknowledging that many of these people come with the help of organized crime.

He pointed out that there are concerns about the number of asylum seekers, adding: "We are in talks with Mexico to ensure the number of asylum seekers is reduced."

Canada received 17,500 asylum applications from Mexico between January and September 2023, according to the latest available data, which is more than any other country. Among those claims, officials reviewed just under 5,000 applications with 1,956 accepted, while the rest were rejected or withdrawn.

The backlog of claims before the Immigration and Refugee Board from Mexico alone now totals 22,875.

The government imposed a visa requirement on Mexican citizens in 2008 in an attempt to reduce the number of asylum seekers, but this visa requirement was lifted by the Trudeau government in 2016. Before the visa requirement was lifted, there were only a few hundred asylum claims from Mexico.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre also called on the government to reimpose visa requirements, arguing that they led to a significant increase in asylum claims.

Liberals have consistently increased Canada's permanent immigration target, which is set to reach 500,000 immigrants in 2025. Trudeau said this number is manageable, but there has been tremendous growth in the number of temporary residents, including temporary workers and international students.

Trudeau said Canada benefits greatly from immigration, and for this reason, it is important that there is trust in the system.

He added: "We will always need massive immigration and benefit from it, but the most important responsibility we bear as a government is to ensure that Canadians themselves remain strong, positive, and confident about immigration because it is one of the huge advantages we have."