This is just wrong. I thought debtor’s prisons were not allowed. I’m sure illegals don’t show up and are not placed in prison.
Having actually looked into the question once, I think you’d turn out to be wrong.
I was once asked to support what seemed to be an obvious, irrefutable statement someone once made that we have never allowed debtors prisons in the US. If I remember correctly, I found a case where someone had made that argument.
The court in that case shot the argument down. It illustrated the point by referring to a number of cases in the US where persons were thrown into prison due to debt, including one where a sitting judge went to a debtor’s prison.
Scratch one slam-dunk argument.