Dilley, Texas -- The more than 1,800 women and children who are being detained in this isolated part of South Texas are called "residents." Their bunk bed-filled barracks are called "suites." And their living quarters are situated in "neighborhoods" named after a cuddly brown bear, a pretty blue butterfly and a bright red bird.

Yet, there is no mistaking what this place is — a tightly secured immigration detention center complete with roaming guards, metal detectors and high fences.

The South Texas Family Residential Center — the largest of its kind in the U.S. with capacity to hold 2,400 people — is now ground zero in the contentious national debate over illegal immigration. And there is a lot at stake in that debate for Georgia, a state that has fought for years to drive out immigrants living illegally within its borders.

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Brant Frost V is a former vice-chair of the Georgia GOP whose father, Brant Frost IV, founded First Liberty Building & Loan in 1993.   (YouTube screenshot)

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. (center) is flanked by GOP whip Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. (left) and Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, as Thune speak to reporters at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. Earlier Tuesday, the Senate passed the budget reconciliation package of President Donald Trump's signature bill of big tax breaks and spending cuts. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

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