Boston Mayor Martin Walsh issued a statement to the Boston Haitian Reporter this morning in response to the Dominican Republic's plan to expel people of Haitian descent from their country: ​"​It is disheartening and troubling to see a neighboring country target a minority group for exclusion," Mayor Walsh said. "I urge Dominican leaders to reverse course and recognize the tremendous value of diversity and inclusion for any nation. We stand with the Haitian community in Boston and abroad.​"​ Mayor Walsh is the latest leader of a major American city to speak out on the issue. New York City Mayor Bill DiBlasio called the Dominican plan "immoral" and "racist" in pointed remarks this week. Mayor Walsh is a first-term mayor who served for 17 years as a Massachusetts legislator prior to his election as Boston's mayor in 2013. He visited Haiti in 2009 as part of a fact-finding mission.