‘How can I live in this world…’: California teacher marries Gaza man to give him US citizenship; immigration attorney calls it ‘foolish’

Pinho married Salem Abu Amra

A California teacher stirred a row after revealing she married a man living in Gaza, saying she did so to help him obtain US citizenship and advance the fight for Palestinian rights.51-year-old Laura Pinho is a dance teacher in Los Angeles. She disclosed the marriage during a June 16 CODEPINK Zoom webinar titled ‘Challenging Zionism In Our Schools.’Congratulating Pinho on her marriage, CODEPINK activist Marcy Winograd invited her to speak about her life. In response, Pinho said her decision to marry Salem S.E. Abu Amra was driven by activism.“I have power as an American citizen. I have a passport that I was just born with, and how can I live in this world if I don’t make every effort to equalize the playing field on whatever way that I can,” she said during the webinar.The marriage took place on April 5 through Utah’s online marriage system, according to records from the Utah County Clerk obtained by Israeli non-profit NGO Monitor. Utah law allows couples to marry virtually if they obtain a county marriage licence, present valid identification and have two witnesses, even if neither party is physically present in the state.However, immigration experts have warned that marrying someone solely to secure immigration benefits could carry serious legal consequences.Englewood, New Jersey mayor Michael Wildes, an immigration attorney and former federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York, said Pinho’s public comments could invite federal scrutiny.“She can be prosecuted criminally, brought up on federal conspiracy charges. Marriage fraud is one of the top five crimes you can perpetrate including terrorism and drugs. The fact that somebody would be foolish enough to say they actually did it makes it actionable for the federal government to investigate,” Wildes said.Under US federal law, entering into a marriage for the purpose of obtaining a green card is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).It remains unclear whether Abu Amra has entered US.Just a month before the wedding, Pinho launched a GoFundMe campaign for Abu Amra, describing him as the primary caregiver for a family of five in Gaza. “His days are spent securing clean water and foraging for food for his family and helping them stay alive,” she wrote on the fundraising page.Pinho has said the pair first connected through mutual friends on Facebook. After she donated some money to him, Abu Amra contacted her to thank her, and the relationship developed from there.The teacher’s personal life has also come under attention. Public records show she shares an address with Derek J. Reid, 51, an improv coach with whom she has a five-year-old child.Reid told The New York Post that he and Pinho had been partners but were never legally married. They are now separated, but they continue to live at the same address in separate rooms. He also said he was unaware that Pinho had married Abu Amra.According to Reid, their relationship deteriorated because of disagreements over the Israel-Palestinian conflict.“She’s been radicalized. I don’t know anything about that… the crowd she runs with… I’m worried for her,” he said.Pinho leads her school’s ‘Students for Justice in Palestine club’ and has openly discussed incorporating pro-Palestinian themes into her dance lessons.She shared footage from a school cultural event where students performed the traditional Palestinian Dabke dance, explaining that she used the performance to discuss Palestinian history and identity.“There is so much resistance in both the words and the movements of this song, so while I was instructing the students the actual steps of the dance, I would tell them the meaning, the significance of what the steps symbolized,” she said.“Of course, that prompted the question, well, why are they so connected to the land… and then I was able, because they asked the question, to share the history of what has happened to their land,” she added.Pinho also described encouraging student activism through the school’s Palestinian solidarity club.“Students have rights, powers and abilities… they do the fighting, they do the protesting, and we are there to guide them… that is the role that I have found as one of the co-sponsors actually for the Students for Justice in Palestine Club,” she said.According to public records cited by NYP, Pinho received $179,103 in salary and benefits in 2024 while employed by the Los Angeles Unified School District.