The Real Housewives of New Jerseyended on an emotional note on Wednesday, asTeresa Giudicelearned that her husbandJoe Giudice‘s second deportation appeal had been denied.
“I am shell-shocked,” said Teresa, who shares daughters Gia, 18, Gabriella, 15, Milania, 14, and Audriana, 10, with Joe.
“I’m so drained,” she continued. “It seems like one bad thing after another. I feel like I’m just so numb. I feel like I can’t even believe this is happening.”
Later, Teresa admitted to feeling “helpless” — especially after talking on the phone with Joe.
“Joe was calling me and he’s like, ‘I’m sorry I let you guys down, I’m sorry.’ [He’s scared] … I’m scared too.”
“I want him to come home,” Teresa said. “We have four daughters together. I didn’t sign up to do this alone. … I’m scared.”
Paul Zimmerman/Getty
To help her process, Teresa met with her family lawyerJames J. Leonard, Jr.,who explained Joe’s next steps.
Unfortunately, they didn’t sound too promising for the Giudice patriarch.
“It could take months,” Leonard said. “We have to start the whole process all over again. But the problem is, this is his last chance. And you’re not bringing forward new information, so I think the odds are against Joe at this stage.”
“Immigration is the hottest topic on the planet and I think Joe is caught in the crossfire of that,” he added.
Teresa Giudice, Joe Giudice and their daughters.Joe Giudice/ Instagram
“Fifty? Thirty? Ten percent?” wondered Gorga.
“Given what we learned this morning, significantly less,” said Leonard.
That statistic prompted Gorga to ask Teresa why Joe was continuing the appeal process.
“Why continue to fight? You’re burying yourself financially,” Gorga said, as Teresa reminded him that Joe’s daughters wanted him to fight. “When there’s not more money, it’s harder than that. So for your future, your daughters, your everything to keep going, you have to think as a business person — that he’s not coming home.”
“Sometimes you have to understand that it’s not going anywhere, and I have to move on,” Gorga said.
Teresa understood what her brother meant, but stressed that losing money didn’t scare her.
“I’ve been through financial strain before,” said Teresa. “I had to pay back taxes, I had to pay off all our debts. So how can I put a price tag on our daughters having their daddy home?”
Wednesday’sRHONJepisode was filmedin April.
“We are extremely disappointed that the Board of Immigration Appeals has denied Mr. Giudice’s appeal,” Leonard told PEOPLE in a statement at the time. “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.”
Joe’s immigration case stems back to October 2018, whena ruling was made that Joe would have to leave the countryafter he finished serving out his 41-month prison sentence for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud.
The Giudice father was born in Italy and lived there for a year before his parents relocated to America.He never obtained American citizenshipand per U.S. law, immigrants can be deported if they are convicted of “a crime of moral turpitude” or an “aggravated felony.”
In March, Joe was released from prison, three years after first reporting. (Teresa served a little over 11 months in prison for the same crimes; she wasreleasedon Dec. 23, 2015.) He was transferred to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to wait out his appeal decisions.
The Giudice family.Gia Giudice/Instagram
Just this October, Joemoved to Salerno, Italy to find work while he awaits the court’s decision.
Teresa, whohas been married to Joe for 20 years, went to visit him in November, along with their four daughters
In the past, Teresa’sbeen realistic about the fate of their marriage should he be deported, admitting on theRHONJseason 9 reunion that she’s “not doing a long-distance relationship.”
Speaking with PEOPLE after returning from Italy, Teresa said that she hadn’t yet decided whether she and Joe would stay together.
“I cried a lot,” she added, of the trip. “Just seeing my daughters with him and I was just very, very emotional. At the end of the day I just want Joe to be happy. I’m just happy that he was free.”
The Real Housewives of New Jerseyairs Wednesdays (8 p.m. ET) on Bravo.
source: people.com
