Browsing through the produce section of a Kroger's store in Montgomery, W. Va., in June, Mirhadi Seyedashraf,, 28, a senior studying engineering at the West Virginia Institute of Technology, picked up one white seedless grape to test it. Very quickly, the young Iranian learned that the casual shopping habits of the market stalls in his own country were not those of suspicious American supermarkets.
Arrested on a shoplifting charge, Seyedashraf faced up to a year in jail and a fine of $500. Worse, if he was found guilty, immigration officials could deport him on grounds of "moral turpitude." Last week Montgomery Municipal...
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