‘RHONJ’ Star Teresa Giudice’s Husband Joe Has Deportation Appeal Denied

Teresa Giudice’s husband Joe might not avoid deportation after all.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied the appeal to prevent Joe from being sent back to Italy at the end of his prison sentence.

A source told E! News, who first reported the news, that “The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled against Joe on April 6.” Teresa’s husband of 20 years reportedly found out the decision via mail.

All hope may not be lost as the reality star has one card left to play before facing being shipped back to Italy. On Wednesday, Joe’s lawyers filed a petition for the federal court to review the appeals decision.

However, if the federal court refuses to review the appeal, “Joe will get deported,” the source said.

“We are extremely disappointed that the Board of Immigration Appeals has denied Mr. Giudice’s appeal,” the family’s attorney James J. Leonard Jr. told the outlet. “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.”

Nearly six months ago, the 46-year-old filed the last minute appeal to fight his deportation order issued in November. Joe was recently released into U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement (ICE) custody following an almost three-year prison sentence.

“Mr. Giudice has finished serving his federal prison sentence and was transferred early this morning from the Bureau of Prisons to a facility in western Pennsylvania which houses immigration detainees,” Leonard Jr. said in a statement at the time. “His lawyers and his family are hopeful that justice will prevail and Mr. Giudice will return home to his wife and four daughters who love him and miss him.”

Giudice previously revealed during the most recent Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion that she would split from her husband should he be deported back to Italy.

“It’s like starting a whole new life,” she told host Andy Cohen earlier this year. “And [her daughters have] been through so much already. So, I mean, I’m not doing a long-distance relationship. I’m just not doing it. I want somebody with me every day. I know exactly what happens, I’m sure he’ll be with other women. It happens. We do the long-distance thing? It’s not going to work. I’ll be like, ‘bye bye.’”

The reality was spotted not wearing her wedding ring in early March, sparking speculation that the couple might have thrown in the towel on the marriage. The couple shares four children — Gia, 18, Gabriella, 15, Melania, 13, and Audriana, 10.