The state of Texas officially pulled out of the refugee resettlement business on Friday, declaring it will no longer coordinate federal efforts to find new homes for displaced people.

Nonprofit groups insist refugees will continue to be welcomed here. But the many agencies that help with resettlement efforts no longer will be working with the state. Instead, the federal government will appoint a new agency to coordinate and monitor the work.

Texas leads the nation in such resettlements, and last year about a tenth of 72,000 refugees were legally relocated here.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signaled last year that he wanted to bar refugees from war-torn Syria, where ISIS terrorists control a large share of the country. The state sued to bar the federal government from resettling more refugees in Texas, but that case was dismissed by a judge.

"Texas has repeatedly requested that the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Director of National Intelligence provide assurances that refugees resettled in Texas will not pose a security threat," Abbott said Friday in a statement, "and that the number of refugees resettled in Texas would not exceed the state's original allocation in fiscal year 2016 — both of which have been denied by the federal government."

He added, "As governor, I will continue to prioritize the safety of all Texans and urge the federal government to overhaul this severely broken system."

Refugee children watched a movie at an island camp in Greece this week. (Louisa Gouliamaki/Agence France-Presse)

About 7,000 refugees were resettled in Texas in 2016.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama called for refugee admissions to expand to 110,000 nationwide in fiscal year 2017 because of the deepening world crisis of displaced people.

In Washington, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said a replacement agency for the state will be named to coordinate future resettlement in Texas.

Its Office of Refugee Resettlement "is working to prevent a disruption in the delivery of services and benefits to refugees," said Toby Merkt, the federal spokesman.

"Refugees will continue to be resettled in Texas only after extensive screenings are conducted by the State Department and Department of Homeland Security."

Federal officials have said refugees are screened more than any other type of traveler that enters the United States.

The agency that takes over resettlement efforts would monitor smaller agencies that help the refugees with basic assistance such as distributing financial aid. The transition will take up to 120 days, said one refugee assistance leader.

"It will be a huge undertaking," said Aaron Rippenkroeger, CEO of Refugee Services of Texas, one of three agencies that perform such work in North Texas.

"It has taken 40 years for the state of Texas to develop one of the best welcoming and integration programs around the world," he said. "Now we have four months to redesign and rebuild a system that will have the same outcome."

More than a dozen state governments already don't handle coordination of refugee resettlement inside their borders, Rippenkroeger said.

Texas nonprofits have already been meeting to discuss a way forward and to make sure assistance checks and other services flow to refugees without interruption.

Dave Woodyard, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of Dallas, said his agency would remain focused on working with other partner organizations.

"We are confident there will be a plan put in place to ensure those in need receive help," Woodyard said in a statement.

Syrians don't lead the flow of refugees into Texas. The greatest numbers of refugees have come from Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, according to State Department statistics.

When Abbott first made it known he'd pull the plug on the state's role in resettlement, many in the religious community rushed to offer assistance for the refugees, including the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops.

"In Luke 12:48, Jesus reminds us that with our many blessings come responsibility that 'to whom much is given, much is required, ' " read one letter from the Catholic Conference.

Donna Duvin, Dallas executive director of the International Rescue Committee, one of the nation's largest resettlement agencies, called Abbott's stance "callous."

"Governor Abbott persists with his fruitless, fear-mongering strategy that is out of touch with global needs, and national realities, directly contradicting Texas values," Duvin said in a written statement. "Texans will show the governor that it remains welcoming to the resilient refugees who will continue to come to the state irrespective of the governor's inhumane actions. "

IRC was sued last year, along with the federal government, by Texas in an effort to block the resettlement of Syrians in the state. A Dallas judge dismissed the suit in June after attorneys argued there were multiple security checks of refugees and the state was seeking "unwarranted veto power over individual federal refugee resettlement decisions."

Staff writers Todd J. Gillman in Washington and Samantha Ketterer in Austin contributed to this report.