Washington, Mar 26 (IANS/EFE): The number of undocumented immigrants in the US was around 11.5 million in January 2011, compared with the 11.6 million the year before, according to a Department of Homeland Security report published in the American media.

Of all the largely Hispanic undocumented immigrants living in the US in January 2011, only 14 percent had entered the country after 2005, the report said Saturday.

Mexicans continued to make up the most numerous segment of the undocumented population in the US, with 6.8 million, or 59 percent, in the month their numbers were measured.

The number of undocumented immigrants reached its peak in 2007 with a total of 11.8 million, and since then has diminished, partly because of the economic crisis, improved economic conditions in Mexico and greater border security, the DHS said.

The DHS report was prepared with data from the 2010 Census.

US President Barack Obama during his electoral campaign promised immigration reform that he has not carried out during his first term.

In the current campaign leading up to the Nov 6 elections, the Repubican presidential hopefuls have made it clear they favour an iron-fisted approach to illegal immigration, rejecting completely any amnesty for the undocumented and promising, to the contrary, more deportations and tougher border security.