JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi's Phil Bryant is joining several other governors in saying they want to block the federal government from putting any Syrian refugees in their states.

However, Lavinia Limon, president and CEO of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigration, says states have no legal authority to block refugees from being resettled in their communities.

U.S. refugee programs are governed by the Refugee Act of 1980 that created a refugee coordinator for the country and outlined procedures for resettlement within the United States. 

Republican Bryant says Monday that bringing Syrian refugees to the U.S. is "misguided" and "extremely dangerous." He says he will do "everything humanly possible" to keep refugees out of Mississippi.