OTTAWA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that the U.S. policy of separating children from their immigrant parents and detaining them at the U.S.-Mexico border is "wrong".

"What's going on in the United States is wrong. I can't imagine what the families who are living through this are enduring. It is not the way we do things in Canada," Trudeau said in Ottawa when he was asked to comment on the U.S. policy.

The United States is the focus of international outrage for its policy of separating children from their parents and detaining them after they cross the border.

Canadian policy on child migrants allows detained parents to keep their children with them in holding centers if other alternatives cannot be found.

However, concerns have been raised over the number of migrant children detained every year by the Canadian Border Services Agency. Last year, 162 minors were detained or housed with their parents in holding centers, the CTV reported.

Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said he issued a directive last November to the Canada Border Services Agency to keep children out of detention and keep families together "as much as humanly possible."