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DALLAS – The Dallas Morning News says that Texas GOP officials wasted no time pinning responsibility for the nation’s border struggles – not to mention the weight of a divisive presidential election – on Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden endorsed her to replace him atop the Democratic ticket. “I think I will need to triple the border wall, razor wire barriers, and National Guard on the border,” Gov. Greg Abbott said on social media about a half-hour after Biden’s Sunday announcement. Reaction from Republican leaders in one of the national party’s most critical states was swift and targeted in the moments after Biden withdrew from the race. They repeatedly lobbed criticisms of Harris’ performance as vice president, accused Democratic insiders of conspiracy, and called for Biden to leave the White House immediately.

In his announcement, Biden said he was leaving the race to focus his energy on his presidential duties and did not indicate that he plans to step down before a new president is inaugurated next January. Even after slamming Harris, who would replace Biden if the president stepped down, Abbott suggested that an immediate change in the White House would be better for national security. “If Biden is unfit to run FOR the presidency, he is unfit to run THE presidency,” Abbott wrote. “American security is at risk both at home and abroad. A change in the oval office is essential – immediately – to ensure the safety of Americans and the security of our country.” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a Republican and former head of the Texas House GOP, wrote, “Unfit to run. Unfit to serve.” House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican who was challenged by his party’s right flank in this year’s primaries, said “the Biden-Harris Administration is unfit for four more years in the White House” but stopped short of calling on Biden to immediately leave office.

DALLAS – The Dallas Morning News reports President Joe Biden’s decision to end his reelection bid and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee for the White House had many Texas Democrats feeling better about the top of the ticket’s influence on down-ballot races. Before Biden’s decision, Democrats inside and outside Texas were worried headwinds caused by his poor debate performance in June would drag down Democratic candidates who are sharing the ballot with him in November. Biden’s withdrawal not only allayed those concerns, it renewed hope for some Texas Democrats that former President Donald Trump can be defeated in November. “This is the right move for the Democratic Party,” said Rowlett state Rep. Rhetta Andrews Bowers, who will serve as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. “If we all get behind Vice President Harris, we will win.”

Democratic strategist Matt Angle also looked forward to a Harris presidential campaign. “We now have clarity,” Angle said. “You’re going to have people lock in behind Kamala Harris very quickly, and the contrast could not be more stark and cannot be more favorable to Democrats. “You’ve got a capable and vibrant and youthful Kamala Harris running against a broke-down and destructive threat to democracy in Donald Trump, and that’s going to help every Democrat on the ballot, regardless of what position you hold,” Angle said. An overwhelming Trump victory in Texas could cost Texas Democrats numerous critical races. In the state’s marquee race, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Though Allred is running on his own merit and has rarely mentioned Biden, a flood of Trump voters and a depressed Democratic turnout would benefit Cruz. Allred, making his first run for statewide office, realized from the start that he needed to outperform Biden to beat Cruz. His campaign aides hope Cruz underperforms compared with Trump, giving the challenger an opening. In 2016 Cruz beat Beto O’Rourke by 2.6 percentage points. A new nominee removed Biden as a talking point for Republicans. A wipeout of Biden also would have put Democrats in legislative and judicial races at risk of losing. State Rep. Mihaela Plesa, who in 2022 became the first Democrat to win a Collin County-based House seat in 30 years, is seeking reelection in a newly drawn district that leans Democratic but can be susceptible to a GOP surge. Plesa is running for a second term against Republican Steven Kinard. Elsewhere, problems at the top of the ticket could thwart Democratic efforts to flip Republican legislative seats, even in deep-blue Dallas County. Democrat Averie Bishop is running against Republican Rep. Angie Chen Button, and Democrat Elizabeth Ginsberg is challenging Republican Rep. Morgan Meyer. The Legislature redrew those Dallas County districts in 2021 to make them more favorable to Republican candidates. Still, those areas have been trending toward Democrats for several election cycles and could become competitive. A Trump surge could assure victory for Button and Meyer.

DALLAS (AP) — The leader of an historic church in downtown Dallas nearly destroyed by a fire told congregants on Sunday that they will rebuild the iconic structure.

Services for First Baptist Dallas were held at the nearby Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, where senior Pastor Robert Jeffress said they will rebuild the sanctuary, which now appears as a charred shell, with its stained glass windows ruined and virtually everything inside its brick walls destroyed.

“If we allow that thing to remain in ruins, it will look to the whole world like we’ve been defeated by the evil one, so we’re going to rebuild,” Jeffress said. “I’m not saying we’re going to duplicate every square inch of that worship center. … We’re going to remember that historic place of worship and do everything we can to honor it.”

Jeffress added that insurance will cover the costs to rebuild.

No deaths or injuries were reported after the blaze broke out Friday evening in the Texas Historic Landmark, a Victorian-style red brick church built in 1890. It took firefighters about three hours to contain the blaze.

Interim Fire Chief Justin Ball said Friday the fire appeared to have started in the building’s basement.

Dallas Fire-Rescue Capt. Robert Borse said Sunday the investigation into how the blaze started was ongoing and that there were no updates on that probe.

DALLAS (AP) — A Dallas Fire-Rescue engine crashed off an expressway bridge on Sunday and landed on a railway track below, injuring four firefighters, officials said.

The crash happened just after 6 a.m. on the I-345 Expressway, Dallas Fire-Rescue Capt. Robert Borse said. He said it was not immediately known Sunday what caused the accident or if other vehicles were involved.

All four firefighters were taken to the Baylor University Medical Center, where they were listed in stable condition Sunday morning, Borse said.

Portions of the expressway and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail system were shut down after the crash.

Images of the scene show the engine on its side in the middle of the DART tracks, surrounded by firefighters. On the rain-slickened pavement above, a massive highway sign structure collapsed over four lanes of the highway.

MCALLEN, Texas (AP) — As allegations of sexual abuse built up at the largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S., officials continued placing children in their care in a system that lacks adequate oversight, advocates say.

A lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Justice Department alleges employees of Southwest Key Programs Inc. sexually abused and harassed children in their care for at least eight years. During that time, the nonprofit organization amassed billions of dollars in government contracts and continued to house thousands of unaccompanied migrant children entering the U.S.

It remained unclear Friday how many children are currently in Southwest Key shelters, and federal officials did not respond to questions about whether any actions would be taken in response to the lawsuit. Critics say it reflects a system that has lacked accountability for years.

“The whole point of this complaint is that there’s this pattern and practice,” said Leecia Welch, deputy legal director at Children’s Rights. “If they’re bringing this complaint that they saw a pattern and practice of sexual harassment and violating these kids while still placing kids at Southwest Key during the same time period, that’s why I have such a disconnect.”

Southwest Key, which operates under grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Office of Refugee Resettlement, has 29 child migrant shelters — 17 in Texas, 10 in Arizona and two in California — with room for more than 6,300 children.

The department did not respond to emailed requests for comment asking whether children will continue to be placed there. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment beyond the lawsuit announcement Thursday. Southwest Key did not respond to an additional emailed request for comment Friday.

“ORR continued to contract with Southwest Key despite knowing of some of these issues, so right now there isn’t in another place to put all these kids,” said Diane de Gramont, an attorney with the National Center for Youth Law. “And we would be extremely concerned if kids then ended up in border patrol facilities for longer periods of time because ORR didn’t have enough beds for them.”

The Border Patrol must transfer custody of unaccompanied children within 72 hours of arrest to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which releases most to parents or close relatives after short stays at Southwest Key or shelters operated by other contracted providers.

The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, a nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrant children, called for children in custody to be immediately reunited with family members and have access to attorneys as well as “independent courts who will hear their claims of harm.”

Previous abuse at some Southwest Key shelters led to their closure, including two large facilities in Arizona in 2018. The state revoked their licenses for not properly conducting background checks on their employees, and further investigation revealed several cases of physical and sexual abuse, including accusations from the government of El Salvador.

The abuse reflects the important role of state oversight, something that is now lacking in states like Texas and Florida, where Republican governors revoked state licensing of facilities that house migrant children.

Critics say there exists no equivalent system to report and investigate child abuse and neglect through the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, which oversees the housing of migrant children.

“If there is an incident of abuse, when the state is there, there’s a clear hotline for anybody to call,” de Gramont said. “There’s a mandatory investigation … there’s a strict series of events that’s supposed to happen there.”

Some experts also wondered why the complaint was filed as a civil lawsuit where no one would be held criminally liable.

Daniel Hatoum, a Texas Civil Rights Project attorney whose experience includes defending children subject to the work of immigration contractors, said a criminal lawsuit could come later.

“Corporate liability can be a lot harder for the Department of Justice than civil liability and especially individual criminal liability,” he said. The civil lawsuit is seeking a jury trial and requesting monetary damages for the victims of the alleged abuse.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit comes less than three weeks after a federal judge granted its request to lift special court oversight of the Health and Human Services Department’s care of unaccompanied migrant children, known as the Flores agreement. This gave attorneys representing child migrants broad authority to visit custody facilities and conduct interviews with staff and other migrants, as well as register complaints with the court.

President Joe Biden’s administration argued that new federal safeguards rendered special oversight unnecessary 27 years after it began. In one court document, Health and Human Services Department official Toby Biswas painted a rosy picture of the new regulations’ numerous protections for unaccompanied children as well as independent accountability for their custody conditions.

Advocates instead saw a void in oversight.

Carrie Van der Hoek, deputy program director for the Young Center’s Child Advocate Program in Texas, said in an affidavit opposing the termination of the Flores agreement that her staff reported approximately 10 instances of alleged abuse and neglect to the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services since Texas revoked its licensing in 2021.

“When we have made these reports, in some cases, DFPS officials told us that they would not investigate the complaint because DFPS did not have jurisdiction over ORR facilities,” Van der Hoek said. “In other cases, we received no response and were not aware of any actions taken by DFPS or any other state agency to investigate the report.”

Van der Hoek also said that if a child called preprogrammed telephones in the Office of Refugee Resettlement, facilities that allow them to reach the state child abuse and neglect hotline, they would get the same response.

Biswas said they began conducting “in-depth reviews” of abuse allegations at Texas facilities beginning March 2022 and will begin its own investigations of alleged child abuse and neglect in Texas “or in any other state if it ceases to perform such investigations” as of July of this year.

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Associated Press journalist Elliot Spagat contributed to this report.

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A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the Justice Department filed the lawsuit on Thursday.