As the world reels from Sunday’s Brexit vote, many fear that the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union will give license to xenophobic sentiment. Following the referendum, anti-immigration protests sprung up across the country and reported hate crimes against immigrants increased by a startling 57 percent, prompting leaders to speak out.

“Let’s remember these people have come here and made a wonderful contribution to our country,” remarked Prime Minister David Cameron, “And we will not stand for hate crime or these kinds of attacks.”

Zahava Moerdler of Human Rights First believes this xenophobic trend will continue as other countries face their own growing nationalist movements and skepticism of European unity grows.

Many refugees experience discrimination in the United States as well. A Syrian family in Tucson, Arizona was forced to leave their home after a threatening message was taped to their door. The family fled Syria three years ago and came to America through an exhausting two-year resettlement process. Even after the hate-filled message appeared on their door, the family still maintains a positive outlook. “We’re not who they think we are. We came here to find safety for our family.”

Afghan interpreters and translators who aided the United States in the war on terror also find life in the United States difficult. After coming to America on the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program designed to remove these allies and their families from danger of reprisal, many have not been able to escape poverty, violence, and hardship. Says one: “We do not want to be a problem, a burden to our new society. But unfortunately when we are put in bad neighborhoods, we are not helped, we are not given opportunities according to our qualification and our skills, we are lost.”

Thankfully, there are many striving to provide opportunities for new Americans and address the hardships newly resettled refugees experience. The White House released a report early Thursday highlighting the contributions of numerous cities and counties that have set examples in welcoming refugees, from community building to providing skills and language training programs. The report comes as a result of the Building Welcoming Communities Campaign, which partnered with 50 local governments around the country last year in order to provide support for immigrants and refugees.

Meanwhile the fight for the future of the Special Immigrant Visa program as a whole continues in Congress. A few weeks after the Senate failed to authorize new visas in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), when SIV legislation is typically enacted, on Wednesday the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the extension of the program through 2017, including 4,000 additional visas.

Military.com reports that the road ahead for the program will be difficult, however, as the House of Representatives and Senate come together on a final bill. House leaders have been reluctant to expand the number of visas available and favor restrictions on the eligibility of Afghans entering the program.

Across the border, the New York Times shares a heartening look inside Canada’s private sponsorship program. The Canadian government originally committed to taking in 25,000 refugees, then raised the number by tens of thousands, and can barely keep up with its citizens’ demands to welcome them.

Finally, a powerful message about the refugee crisis is resounding from concert halls from Boston to New York. The Refugee Orchestra Project is the work of Lidiya Yankovskaya, whose Jewish family fled the Soviet Union in her youth. Yankovskaya started the project last year when she realized that many of her own close friends were unaware that she, like so many others, is a refugee. The musician now works to rally other refugees together and showcase the positive impact that refugees can have on society by performing the works of refugee composers.

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