By Gabbie Burton
Contributing Writer

On July 31, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced that Fatima DeMaria, 65, of Lincoln University was arrested and charged by indictment with eight counts of asylum fraud and eight counts of mail fraud. 

DeMaria is the owner and operator of Immigration Matters Legal Services located in Oxford.

Authorities allege that DeMaria falsely represented herself to be an immigration attorney who could help undocumented residents obtain employment authorization. DeMaria is, however, not a licensed attorney nor is she accredited to represent individuals in immigration proceedings.

According to the indictment, from at least December 2021 to July 2024, DeMaria prepared fraudulent Form I-589 asylum applications in her clients’ names with false information without their knowledge or consent. Authorities allege that her clients were never aware that the mechanism through which she would help them obtain work permits was Form I-589 asylum applications. Additionally, the victims were never informed that if the applications filed on their behalf were rejected, they would be placed in removal proceedings, potentially jeopardizing their eligibility for future immigration benefits.

The scheme defrauded an unknown number of clients out of thousands of dollars each, while DeMaria billed her clients between $6,000-$9,000 per individual and $12,000-$15,000 per couple, according to court documents. DeMaria allegedly had her clients pay in cash or peer-to-peer transactions that were deposited into her personal bank accounts which were later withdrawn at local casinos. In all, DeMaria’s earnings from the scam are alleged to be at least $1 million which prosecutors plan to seek forfeiture of.

If convicted, DeMaria could face a maximum possible sentence of 240 years’ imprisonment and a $4 million fine.

Office in school district’s administration building

News of DeMaria’s scam has spread throughout the local community, leaving many with lingering questions but few answers in sight. One detail of the case that has caught attention on Facebook is the location of DeMaria’s Immigration Matters office.

Located in Suite 1 of 125 Bell Tower Lane, the office was rented out of the Oxford Area School District’s administration building. On Aug. 4, Superintendent Dr. David Woods released a statement on the school district’s Facebook page:

“The Oxford Area School District was made aware of an FBI investigation on July 30, 2025, shortly after 12 PM. Fatima DeMaria was a tenant in the district office building located at 125 Bell Tower Lane, Oxford, Pa. The District is not part of the investigation by the FBI nor is the District implicated in any wrongdoing through the lease agreement to the tenant. The District will fully cooperate with the FBI regarding any future requests for information regarding the tenant. The administrative building does not include any full-time classrooms and has had other commercial tenants in the past. We are aware of the press release made public by the FBI and have no further comment at this time.”

Anonymous representatives from the school district were able to confirm that the office space rented to DeMaria and other previous tenants were not done independently by the district but rather with the help of a realtor. As to why and how the office was rented to DeMaria without proof of her legitimacy as a lawyer, has caused a flurry of speculative posts and comments made on the Oxford message boards. 

“As a parent I would like to know the people who are operating within that building are vetted properly,” read one comment under an “Oxford Pulse” message board post discussing the matter.

According to DeMaria’s LinkedIn as of Aug. 1, she attended Penn State University for paralegal studies from 1994-1997. She then served as a senior immigration paralegal at “law firm” from January 1992-December 2001, then finally as paralegal at Immigration Matters, Inc. from March 2012-present. Nowhere on her current LinkedIn profile does she list experience as an attorney or as an immigration attorney.

Additionally, as of Aug. 1, her sparse activity listed on her LinkedIn profile included liking and commenting on a post made eight years ago reading, “Great News! President Trump wants to return the U.S. to the merit-based immigration system like in the rest of the developed countries!!! It would be great to say goodbye to the family-based import of low skilled labor.”

DeMaria commented on the post, writing, “about time!”

However, as of Aug. 4, DeMaria’s activity on that post was no longer listed on her LinkedIn profile nor could the post be found on the profile of its original author.

While DeMaria continues to garner attention across the region, community members who are the victims of DeMaria’s crimes are now forced to face a difficult reality, some only just now realizing they even are victims.

Immigration attorney Lindsey Sweet of Sweet and Paciorek, LLC in Avondale, recently shared her perspective on the case in an email with the Chester County Press. In the days after the news of DeMaria’s scam spread throughout the community, Sweet wrote that she has received “dozens of calls from victims and their family members,” and is expecting more to come.

“From the indictment, we are only now learning the true scope of the cases that Fatima was filing,” Sweet wrote. “It is likely that there are many people in the community who simply thought they were applying for employment authorization and still don't know what has happened.”

‘It seemed legitimate on its’ face’

As to how DeMaria was able to operate the alleged scam for as long as she did with victims still possibly in the dark, Sweet shared some potential reasoning.

“Most victims who realized what happened were afraid to come forward due to their tenuous immigration status and feelings of powerlessness by the time it was discovered,” she wrote. “Others who didn’t yet see the legal consequences down the road just saw immediate results. They were being told by someone who held herself out as an attorney that they were eligible for employment authorization and then they received employment authorization just like she promised. Any questions as to how legally this was possible fell by the wayside. It seemed legitimate on its face. Also, due to the length of the time that these cases take to process, many victims honestly didn’t know and may still not know that they were victims at all.”

Additionally, Sweet warned that DeMaria is not the only unlicensed service providing immigration legal services in the county. She recommends consulting with an experienced and licensed immigration attorney as well as working together with legal authorities if they suspect they are a victim.

Sweet concluded her feelings on the case and the state of immigration largely in both the community and country.

“The situation is tragic on multiple levels – tragic that someone in a position of supposed trust would scam vulnerable members of the community in a way that will have significant consequences legally for years to come, especially under the current presidential administration,” Sweet wrote. “It is also tragic that there is such desperation in the community to get legal status that people were willing to pay almost anything to work legally. Our legal immigration system is broken.”

The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. 

Anyone who suspects they are a potential victim can visit the links below:

Seeking Victim Information in Fatima DeMaria/Immigration Matters Investigation

Se Solicita Información en la Investigación de Fatima DeMaria/Immigration Matters

To contact Contributing Writer Gabbie Burton, email [email protected].