Luma Simms

Fellow

Luma Simms, a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, studies the life and thought of immigrants. As a humanist writer, she publishes on a broad range of topics, with a focus on the human (individual and communal), ethical, religious, and philosophical dimensions of immigration. She is particularly concerned with the crisis of rootlessness, identity, and dehumanization.

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Luma Simms, a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, studies the life and thought of immigrants. As a humanist writer, she publishes on a broad range of topics, with a focus on the human (individual and communal), ethical, religious, and philosophical dimensions of immigration. She is particularly concerned with the crisis of rootlessness, identity, and dehumanization.

Mrs. Simms’s essays, articles, and book reviews have appeared in a variety of publications including National AffairsThe Wall Street JournalThe Point magazine, Public DiscourseLaw and Liberty, the Institute for Family Studies, and others. She has been interviewed on Arabic television and American and Canadian radio on topics such as religious freedom in the Middle East, Congress and DACA, immigration and the Middle East, divorce, parenting, and elder care in Eastern cultures. Before joining EPPC, Mrs. Simms was an Associate Fellow at The Philos Project where her research and writing focused on a Christian presence in the Middle East, anti-Semitism, and immigrant life and thought.

Some of Mrs. Simms’s notable essays include Identity and Assimilation at National AffairsImmigration and the Desire for Rootedness at Public DiscourseI Am My Enemy: A Naturalized American Finds Herself at War with Her Homeland at Plough Magazine; and Thinking Is Self-Emptying at The Point magazine.

Her background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She studied law at Chapman University School of Law before leaving to become an at-home mom. Mrs. Simms was born in Baghdad, Iraq; her parents and ancestors are from Mosul, and she speaks Arabic with a Moslawi dialect.

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VIDEO: Was the Pope’s Iraq Visit a Game-changer?

March 8, 2021 | National Review Institute

EPPC Fellow Luma Simms took part in an online conversation, along with Robert Nicholson of the Philos Project and Kathryn Jean Lopez of the National Review Institute, to discuss Pope Francis’s historic visit to Iraq.

AUDIO: Luma Simms on Elder Care in Eastern Cultures

December 2, 2020 | Global News 640 (Toronto)

EPPC Fellow Luma Simms was interviewed as part of a Global News 640 (Toronto) series on elder care and nursing homes. Mrs. Simms’s segment focused specifically on elder care in Eastern cultures.

AUDIO: Luma Simms on Nursing Homes, Elder Care

December 1, 2020 | John Oakley Show

EPPC Fellow Luma Simms appeared on the John Oakley Show, based in Toronto, to discuss elder care in Eastern cultures, and why nursing homes and long-term care facilities are much more common in the West.

AUDIO: Luma Simms on Discusses Immigration, Middle Eastern Christians on Catholic Vote Radio Hour

December 7, 2017 | Catholic Vote Radio Hour

EPPC Fellow Luma Simms appeared on the Catholic Vote Radio Hour, where she discussed her journey from Baghdad to America, called for a safe zone for minorities in Iraq, and explained how Middle Eastern Christians are what the Middle East needs most.

VIDEO: Luma Simms Discusses Christianity and Religious Freedom in Morocco on AlHurra Television

September 27, 2017 | AlHurra Television’s Special Report

EPPC Fellow Luma Simms appeared on AlHurra Television’s Special Report to discuss Christianity and religious freedom in Morocco.

VIDEO: Luma Simms Discusses Religious Freedom in Middle East, State Department Report on AlHurra Television

September 8, 2017 | AlHurra Television’s “Eye on Democracy”

EPPC Fellow Luma Simms appeared on AlHurra Television’s “Eye on Democracy” to discuss religious freedom in the Middle East and the State Department’s 2016 International Religious Freedom Report.

AUDIO: Luma Simms Discusses DACA on Mark Reardon Show

September 5, 2017 | Mark Reardon Show

EPPC Fellow Luma Simms appeared on the Mark Reardon Show to discuss the Trump administration’s decision to wind down the DACA program, which protects young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children.