Former CIA Informant Faces Deportation After Years of Undercover Service

Skoro’s path to the Elizabeth Detention Center began in 2000, when he was sentenced for heroin trafficking. While incarcerated in a federal prison in Pennsylvania, he began providing the FBI with intelligence on radicalized inmates. Following the September 11 attacks, his role expanded significantly. Heavily redacted documents reveal that the CIA utilized his connections to gather actionable intelligence on Hezbollah, the Lackawanna Six, and individuals linked to Osama bin Laden. After his initial deportation in 2007, Skoro asserts that the agency recruited him to infiltrate al-Qaeda cells across the Middle East and the Balkans, a mission he claims lasted until 2009.

His legal situation remains precarious. Although a federal judge blocked his deportation in 2022 under the Convention Against Torture, citing the high risk of assassination or death in his home country, the ruling stopped short of granting him permanent legal status. His current attorneys, Rene Kathawala and Amy Greer, argue that ICE is violating this existing protection by moving to remove him without judicial approval. As he awaits a federal court decision on his habeas corpus petition, Skoro remains separated from his American wife and children, maintaining that his years of clandestine service should grant him the right to remain in the country he once risked his life to protect.