Gov. Chris Christie conceded in a radio interview on Friday that he never sent a directive to state agencies to block Syrian refugees from being placed in New Jersey, saying he had no power to stop the federal government.

The Republican presidential candidate was responding to a POLITICO New Jersey story that showed Christie never sent a memo to state officials on the subject, despite saying in a letter to President Obama that he would direct the state Department of Human Services not to participate in the resettlement of any Syrian refugees.

The governor told FOX News Radio host Brian Kilmeade that his hands were tied.

“There was no reason,” Christie said, when asked directly if he followed up since his note to the president. “I sent the letter, Brian. There is nothing else for me to do. I said I object, I said I don’t want them. But I saw that story …. It’s written by an ignorant person who doesn’t understand the way it works. I said I made my feelings very plain to the federal government and the federal government has responded by saying that they are going to continue to place refugees.”

Several requests filed through the state’s Open Public Records Act indicated that Christie never filed a written directive to the department.

When asked whether the directive that was referenced in Christie’s letter to the president existed, one OPRA custodian said that the Department of Human Services never received a document.

“There is no actual document that is a directive,” the custodian wrote.

A second OPRA custodian for the governor's office suggested that the directive was in the letter, despite the fact that no state agencies were copied on the letter.

“The Governor’s directive ... is referenced in his letter to the President,” the custodian said in an email. “There is not a separate written directive responsive to your request.”

When Kilmeade told him that he didn’t send a directive, Christie seemed to refer back to the letter to Obama, saying, “That’s not true. I sent a letter out making it very clear to people that we didn’t want them.”

“Here’s the problem Brian, the federal government can override us and they are,” he said. “The president has made it clear he is not going to listen to any request from any governor not to accept these folks. And since immigration is still a federal issue, the fact is, they are going to be able to continue to do what they’re doing, despite the objections from not only me but from many other governors around the country.”

POLITICO New Jersey asked the governor’s office and a spokesperson for Christie’s presidential campaign why he has previously said that his staff and the attorney general's office are working on this issue, but is now saying that the federal government controls immigration.

In response, Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for the governor’s office, said in an emailed statement that the federal government controls immigration, and his office has consistently stated that the government does not share information with New Jersey about placements of Syrian refugees, but works directly with non-governmental organizations in the state.

He also wrote in the statement that he was disappointed with how the initial story was written and that it enabled other news outlets to “misrepresent and incompletely reflect a written order vs. the governor’s comments on the issue.”

Samantha Smith, a spokeswoman for Christie’s presidential campaign, deferred to the governor’s office, saying, “It is a state matter that I am not privy to the specific information you are asking about re: the Attorney General and official staff.”