London's new Muslim mayor to European residents: 'You are very welcome here'

After the historic Brexit vote Thursday, London's new Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan had a message for the nearly one million European citizens living in the United Kingdom's capital: "You are very welcome here."

"As a city we are grateful for the enormous contribution you make," he wrote on his Facebook page Friday, "and that will not change as a result of this referendum."

Immigration concerns have been the beating heart of the Leave campaign. Since the European Union was created decades ago, the U.K. has had a massive increase in immigration, which has fostered a politically driven backlash to the continent's open-border policy. Indeed, the leader of the Leave movement, Nigel Farage, and his brand of populist demagoguery have been likened to Donald Trump.

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Mayor Khan's comments are especially poignant in this post-Brexit world as the continent's largest city grapples with the tension between an anti-immigration sentiment and the diversity that makes London, and cities like it, thrive both economically and culturally. "[London's European citizens] bring huge benefits to our city," Khan wrote, "working hard, paying taxes, working in our public services and contributing to our civic and cultural life. We all have a responsibility now to seek to heal the divisions that have emerged throughout this campaign — and to focus on what unites us, rather than that which divides us."