Friday, May 25, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.
Regarding Las Vegas Sun reporter Timothy Pratt's May 7 story, "Painful odyssey, uncertain fate - Family fled Iraq 14 years ago, might now face deportation":
In America we talk about the importance of strong family values. In politics we talk about the importance of freedom and independence. Growing up in the United States, these values are supposed to be second nature. In fact, our American troops are fighting for these core values every day. Sending this family back to Iraq would be a real tragedy and a direct contradiction of our supposed "American values."
In our history books we read about the character of our forefathers and the sacrifices they made. We read about the men and wom en who made America strong and brought our country to greatness. Dallal Muhamed and her family, the subject of Mr. Pratt's story, have shown similar characteristics.
As the husband of Dallal's niece, I know that they have endured so much to find freedom and independence here in Las Vegas. Against all odds they have found a place to call home and work hard to be productive, taxpaying citizens. It would be a shame to think that we cannot figure out a way to grant political asylum because of the semantics of their journey. At the end of the day, doing what is right is far more important than policy.
After all, a family, community and country are only as good as their people, and this is a good, hardworking family that obviously understands the importance of freedom, independence and strong family values.
Brigham Wilson, Las Vegas
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