A commentary by a Victoria city councillor.

On this May Day, back on May 1, 1984, I was arrested in communist Poland, interrogated and thrown out of the country accused of being a spy for the West.

I thought I’d never experience anything like that for the rest of my life, but sadly, I now have to stay away from the United States for fear of being treated the same way. Or worse.

A March 25 video showed Tufts University international student Rümeysa Öztürk her being surrounded by American federal agents in Somerville, Massachusetts, handcuffed and taken into custody.

This Ph.D student is in the U.S. on a valid F1 visa, which allows her to study full time.

When I saw this video, where six federal agents took Öztürk into custody, it reminded me of my encounter in Poland decades before. However, even my ­captors didn’t go so far as masking their faces and using handcuffs.

And since I was only........

© Times Colonist