Everything Teresa Giudice Has Said About Husband Joe Giudice’s Deportation

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Everything Teresa Giudice Has Said About Husband Joe Giudice’s Deportation

Speaking up. Teresa Giudice has been outspoken about the news that her husband, Joe Giudice, will be deported to his native Italy after his release from prison in March 2019. In October 2019, Joe was granted permission to travel to Italy while awaiting a final decision in his case. While Teresa and their four daughters visited Joe overseas the following November, the twosome ultimately decided to call in quits in December. “Teresa and Joe have separated, but have no plans to divorce yet,” a source told Us Weekly at the time. “Teresa and Joe talked about their future when she and the girls were in Italy and decided it was best for them to separate. Neither of them wanted to be in a long distance relationship. Joe has been dating in Italy, Teresa is busy taking care of their girls right now. They harbor no ill will towards each other and will continue to coparent their kids. The girls will be going to Italy in December, Teresa will be staying home.” Scroll through to revisit everything Teresa has said so far about Joe, who started his 41-month sentence for fraud charges in March 2016, ahead of his deportation.

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Come What May

Teresa said during the RHONJ season 8 reunion in January 2018 that she “wouldn’t mind” moving to Italy if her husband was deported. “Italy’s a beautiful place to live,” she said. “Whatever God has planned for me, that’s what’s going to happen. I will embrace it the best I can.”

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Breaking Her Silence

Four days after a judge ordered Joe to be deported during an October 2018 court hearing, Teresa took to Instagram for the first time to address the situation. She shared a mock photo of the Statue of Liberty crying and captioned it with a series of praying-hands emojis.

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Positive Thoughts

While speaking at a Real Housewives event in Connecticut in October 2018, the Bravo personality asked the crowd “to please pray for me and my family.” She also said that she “cannot wait to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

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Going Strong

Teresa denied in October 2018 that she plans to divorce Joe after his deportation. “No. We’re going to be a family,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “We’re going to fight this and get through this. … I am like, ‘We’re not talking about this yet.’ I shut him down. I don’t want to talk about it, and what comes first is our daughters [Gia, Gabriella, Milania and Audriana].”

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Heartbroken

The reality star told Good Morning America in November 2018 in her first TV interview about the news that her daughters “are really upset” about their father’s deportation. “It’s hard for them,” she said. “Adults can handle anything. It’s hard for children to go through this. They’re asking themselves, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ Like, ‘I want my daddy to come home.’”

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Shell-Shocked

Later in her GMA interview, Teresa, who served 11 months in prison in 2015 on similar fraud charges, said, “We’ve been through a lot. I’ve gone through ups and downs, like being angry. But listen, I have to stay strong. I have four beautiful daughters that, you know, they need their mommy.”

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Blue Christmas

The most wonderful time of the year was far from a merry one for the Giudice family with the family patriarch out of the picture. "I'm not all about the holidays since Joe is away and since my mom passed," the Real Housewives of New Jersey star told Us at Jingle Ball 2018 in New York City in December 2018. The reality star added that she is "not as excited about the holidays anymore." Teresa and her daughters visited Joe in the days leading up to Christmas before jetting off for vacation in Jamaica.

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Split Decision

Teresa revealed during the Real Housewives of New Jersey season 9 reunion taping in January 2019 that she and Joe will “go our separate ways” if he is officially deported to Italy. Shortly after, a source told Us Weekly that the RHONJ star “has been feeling conflicted for a little while now.” The insider added that Teresa is “doing really good despite all of this and is putting her daughters’ best interests first and her own.”

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Not Down for Long Distance

Teresa admitted during part three of the season 9 RHONJ reunion, which aired in March 2019, that she would not stay with Joe if he had to live in Italy. 

“I mean, unless my kids say, ‘Mommy, I want to move to Italy,’” Teresa said. “Gia’s going to college next year; I haven’t spoken to Milania or Audriana about it, we haven’t gotten there yet; and Gabriella already voiced her opinion to me. She was like, ‘That would be so hard for me, Mommy.’ She doesn’t speak the language. She’s like, ‘That would kill me even more.’”

“I’m not doing a long-distance relationship. I’m not doing it,” she continued. “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.’”

Credit: Courtesy Teresa Giudice/Instagram

Looking Back

"Days like this I love having photos,” the reality star captioned a throwback pic of Joe coloring Easter eggs with Audriana, Milania and Gabriella. She posted the family photo on April 18, 2019, the day her husband’s deportation appeal was denied.

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A Heartfelt Letter

Teresa wrote a letter to the judge in April 2019, asking the court not to deport Joe.

“Judge Ellington, my daughters need their father. They cry for him every day … I cannot bear the thought of my daughters losing their father. … I am fearful that it will break them and that I alone will not be able to fix them. Judge Ellington, this is my greatest fear and it keeps me up at night. The fear that if I lose my husband, I will also lose my children, as they will never be the same,” the letter read, according to court documents. “My husband is the true love of my life and the most amazing father that I could ask God for our daughters. I cannot imagine life without him. He is our everything and we desperately need him.”

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Missing Out

Bravo shared a video of Teresa discussing Joe’s potential deportation in June 2019.

“If he gets deported, he’ll never be able to go to their graduation[s], celebrate their birthdays, anything,” Teresa said. “He’s going to be missing out on so much. … The girls adore their father and no child should have to go through what my daughters are going through. They should have their daddy here.”

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Both Roles

Teresa gave Us a candid update in October 2019, the same month that Joe was granted permission to travel to Italy amid his case.

“Being a single mom — Joe left when I came home — it’s hard,” she told Us. “It’s like I have to be the mom and the dad. So I’m doing it all by myself. Everything. Taking care of the house, the kids, my dad lives with me, just everything. Being the breadwinner, doing it at all.”

The reality personality added that she “can’t let” her daughters down.

“I put them on this planet, I made them,” she told Us. “They look up to me, so that’s why I’m strong. I’m strong for them. I’m their role model. They look at me like, ‘You gotta tell me what to do,’ and that’s what I’m trying to do. … All four of them are very strong.”

Credit: Courtesy of Joe Giudice/Instagram

Holiday Plans

While Teresa told Us exclusively at BravoCon in November 2019 that Joe’s passport wasn’t going to be ready in time for Thanksgiving, she encouraged her daughters to visit him for Christmas. 

“I encourage the kids because I have work and stuff so, but whenever the kids want to go, I have no problem sending them, but they have school also,” she told Us at the time. “They were thinking about Thanksgiving but Joe’s just getting his passport, so they wanted to meet in the Bahamas or something like that. But I don’t know if his passport’s going to be ready in time so definitely Christmas.”

During a panel at the fan-convention, Teresa also commended Joe for fighting for his right to stay in the country.

“He didn’t have to sit in ICE for 7 months, but he did. He fought. His daughters saw that he fought,” she noted. “I thought the girls would be fine when we came back from Italy, but they’re really missing Joe still. I try to compensate. I jump over hoops for them because of everything that we’re going through. But they are amazing kids.”