By A California public high school teacher said during a recent activist webinar that she entered into an online marriage with a man living in Gaza in part to help him obtain U.S. citizenship and advance Palestinian rights.
Laura Pinho, 51, a dance teacher at Canoga Park Senior High School in Los Angeles, made the remarks during a June 16 CODEPINK webinar titled “Challenging Zionism In Our Schools.” During the event, CODEPINK activist Marcy Winograd congratulated Pinho on the marriage and asked her to explain it, according to The New York Post.
“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,” Pinho said.
She openly admitted it on camera.
LAUSD dance teacher Laura Pinho married a Gazan via Zoom to get him U.S. citizenship “to equalize the playing field.”
Marriage fraud is a federal felony carrying up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
She needs to be arrested. Now.… https://t.co/2T7LLGHgxm pic.twitter.com/AmtMOS990B
— Jews Fight Back 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@JewsFightBack) June 29, 2026
The marriage to Salem S.E. Abu Amra took place April 5 through a Zoom ceremony under Utah law. Utah permits virtual weddings when the parties obtain a Utah County marriage license, provide valid identification, and have two witnesses. Public records from the Utah County Clerk, obtained by the Israeli nonprofit NGO Monitor, document the union.
The disclosure raised immediate questions about federal immigration law. Michael Wildes, an immigration attorney, former federal prosecutor, and mayor of Englewood, New Jersey, said the arrangement could expose Pinho to criminal scrutiny if the marriage was entered into for immigration purposes.
“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.
Federal law treats marriage entered into primarily to obtain immigration benefits as a serious offense. A conviction can carry up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000, according to the Department of Justice.
It is not clear whether Abu Amra has entered the United States. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
Pinho has a five-year-old child with Derek J. Reid, 51, an improv coach listed at the same address in public records. Reid told reporters that he and Pinho were domestic partners, were never formally married, and are now separated while continuing to live in the same home in different rooms. He said he did not know about her marriage to Abu Amra before it occurred and expressed concern about the people with whom she has associated.
In March, one month before the wedding, Pinho launched a GoFundMe campaign for Abu Amra. She described him as the primary caregiver for a family of five and wrote that “His days are spent securing clean water and foraging for food for his family and helping them stay alive.” Pinho said the two first connected on Facebook through mutual friends after she sent him money and he messaged her to thank her.
Pinho works for the Los Angeles Unified School District and co-sponsors the Students for Justice in Palestine club at Canoga Park Senior High School. She has described guiding students in protests and incorporating themes related to Palestinian history and resistance into her dance classes.
At one school cultural event, Pinho said her students performed the Dabke, a Palestinian folk dance. She described using the lesson to discuss Palestinian history with students.
“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. 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,” Pinho said.
Public records show Pinho received $179,103 in pay and benefits from the district as of 2024.
Pinho has also shared social media posts containing conspiracy theories about Jews and Israel. One post claimed that “Israelis are not Israelites. Khazars are not Semites. Ashkenazis are not Hebrews,” and referred to the creators of the modern state of Israel as “Satanic bankers” who are “imposters.” In another post, she shared an image of podcaster Candace Owens and captioned it: “And she’s wrong how??” in reference to a claim that America is ruled by “Satanic pedophiles who work for Israel.”
Abu Amra has posted material on Facebook that appeared to glorify a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Mika Hackner, research director at the North American Values Institute, which first highlighted Pinho’s webinar remarks, said the situation should concern families.
“Parents should be alarmed by this teacher’s judgment,” Hackner said.
[Read More: How Soros Took Over The Democratic Party]
