Fighting for his family. Teresa and Joe Giudice’s lawyer spoke out on Joe’s behalf after the Executive Office for Immigration Review denied his appeal in his deportation case.
“We are extremely disappointed that the Board of Immigration Appeals has denied Mr. Giudice’s appeal,” James J. Leonard Jr. said in a statement to Us Weekly on Thursday, April 18. “We have filed a stay with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and will continue to fight to keep Mr. Giudice in the United States, the only country he knows, and reunite him with his wife and four daughters.”
A spokesperson for the Executive Office for Immigration Review confirmed to Us on Thursday that the 46-year-old’s appeal was dismissed on April 11. Joe, who has lived in the United States since he was an infant, was ordered to be deported to his native Italy in October 2018. The former construction business owner was released into ICE custody after completing his 41-month prison sentence for tax fraud on March 14.
If Joe’s attorneys’ request for a federal court to review the case is denied, the father of four will indeed be deported to Italy.
Joe and Teresa, who wed in 1999, share daughters Gia, 18, Gabriella, 14, Milania, 13, and Audriana, 9. The Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 46, revealed last month that she will not stay with her husband of nearly 20 years if he is forced to leave the country.
“I’m not doing a long-distance relationship. I’m not doing it,” Teresa said on the RHONJ reunion in March. “You know, I want somebody with me every day. I know exactly what happens. You know, I’m sure he’ll be with other women. It happens. We do the long-distance thing, it’s not going to work. I’d be like, ‘Bye, bye.’”
Days before the appeal news broke, Teresa’s costars spoke exclusively to Us about how the Standing Strong author is coping without Joe.
“He calls her. They can, they text each other, and she can text him and he calls her like ten times a day. He calls her all day every day,” Jennifer Aydin told Us on Tuesday, April 16. “They talk, you know they talk about the kids, he’s bored. He’s bored in there and he’s calling her and she’s, you know she misses him but she’s like wow, a lot of phone calls.”
Dolores Catania added that Teresa and Joe’s daughters are “upset” about the situation. “She’s been in the thick of it for a long time now. I hope for them that there’s closure, either way,” she said. “They expected their dad to come home after a sentence, after he served his time.”
