A Texas man said U.S. Marshals armed with automatic weapons arrested him for not paying a $1,500 student loan from three decades ago.

Paul Aker said seven deputy U.S. Marshals showed up at his home in Houston on Thursday with guns and took him to federal court where he had to sign a payment plan for the loan, a local Fox affiliate reported Monday.

Mr. Aker said he didn’t receive any notice or warning about the loan, which he took out in 1987.

Now U.S. Marshals are planning to serve up to 1,500 warrants to people who have not repaid their loans, Fox reported.

Texas Rep. Gene Green, a Democrat, said it is troubling that lawyers and debt collectors are about to intimidate citizens with the threat of arrest in order to collect student loan debt.

“There’s bound to be a better way to collect on a student loan debt that is so old,” Mr. Green told Fox.

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