President Obama's immigration reform plan will ease the deportation for nearly 5 million immigrants who are in the U.S. without legal documents, and Mexico and Central American leaders have weighed in with praise for his reforms.

Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto hailed the reforms as the "most important measures taken in several decades."

"This is an act of justice which recognizes the great contribution of millions of Mexicans to the development of our neighbor," Peña Nieto told reporters on Friday, saying the plan announced would keep more families together and allow those living in the U.S. to restore ties with relatives back in Mexico.

In 2008, 12.7 million immigrants from Mexico resided in the U.S., and more than half were undocumented, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Overall, 11 percent of everyone born in Mexico is currently living in the U.S.

Pew said more than 31 million in the U.S. identify with Mexico. Nearly 31 million Latinos in the U.S. self-identify as being of Mexican origin, representing two-thirds of all U.S. Latinos. Pew said they are the nation's largest Latino origin group and its youngest with the median age of 25.

The majority of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. come from Mexico and Central America.

Central American leaders praised Obama's reform actions but urged U.S. lawmakers to create lasting security to millions of undocumented residents in the U.S. through permanent immigration reform legislation. Obama's executive action is vulnerable to repeal under a new president, and many of the reforms are only effective for two to three years.

"This temporary relief is a great step in the right direction from the United States to resolve the migratory issues of 11 million people, and so we urge Congress to permanently resolve their status by approving a deep immigration reform," the office of Honduran President Juan Hernandez said in a statement on Friday.

More than 1 million Hondurans live in the United States, most of them illegally, the statement said, and the Obama plan "sends a powerful message of solidarity with Latin America."

With 100,000 Guatemalans livening in the U.S., Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina urged his people not to fall for misinformation spread by people smugglers or "coyotes."

Rumors of a U.S. amnesty was one of the reasons given for the surge in mothers and children arriving from Central America at the U.S. border this summer, which sparked widespread protest, delayed immigrant reforms and had the House of Representatives introducing and passing a bill that stepped up spending on border control rather than practical solutions for immigration reform.

In September, Central American leaders presented a plan to boost economic growth in the region and cut illegal immigration to the United States. But the plan hinged on major spending on infrastructure and energy projects in the impoverished region, according to Reuters.

El Salvador's Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez also saw Obama's immigration rule changes as a positive step but wants a more permanent solution for immigrant reform.

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