Joe Giudice blamed Teresa Giudice for his deportation, she said on the Real Housewives of New Jersey Wednesday, as the broadcast came on the same week the pair said they were separating.
The revelation came on the Bravo series as the reality star, who shares four children with Joe, 47 – daughters, Gia, 18, Gabriella, 15, Milania, 14, and Audriana, 10 – had a discussion with her eldest daughter and brother Joe Gorga prior to the family celebrating Easter earlier this year.
Joe was born in Saronno, Italy and brought to the United States when he was one, but never applied to be a U.S. citizen; after he pleaded guilty to mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud charges in 2014, federal authorities ordered his deportation due to legal statutes related to ‘a crime of moral turpitude’ or ‘aggravated felony.’
The latest: Joe Giudice, 47, blamed Teresa Giudice, 47, for his deportation, she said on the Real Housewives of New Jersey Wednesday, as the broadcast came on the same week the pair said they were separating
He was being detained in an immigration facility for months after serving time for fraud, awaiting word as to whether he’d be allowed to stay in the U.S., and was eventually released from ICE custody in October, and deported to Italy.
The Bravo beauty, 47, told Gia and her brother: ‘He blamed me yesterday – he said, “Why didn’t I make him an American citizen?”‘
In an excerpt of a phone call between the pair, Joe was heard telling Teresa, ‘Listen, all you had to do was pick up a phone and call a lawyer,’ to which Teresa said in response, ‘Right, so why didn’t you do it? Why’s it on me now?’
Gia said: ‘He’s just speaking out of his a**, mom – he’s going crazy.’
Easter meal: Teresa Giudice decided not to tell her youngest daughter Audriana about her father’s deportation appeal being denied on Wednesday’s episode of RHONJ
Youngest daughter: Audriana, nine, asked her Teresa if her father was going to be deported
Losing battle: Joe pointed out that his brother-in-law was ‘deteriorating,’ and urged Gia, who’d pressured Joe to keep fighting, to tell him it was okay to stop
Gia went into detail to her mom about an exchange she had with her dad, who was in distress as he was in ICE custody at the time.
‘He called me five times yesterday, and he said it’s coming to a point now where every single one of his hopes are getting denied, and he can’t live with it,’ she said. ‘He’s just speaking out of his a** now. He’s going crazy.’
She added: ‘That place is a s***hole! My dad is stuck in a two-by-two with five people. I don’t know what the hell to do.’
Gorga pointed out that his brother-in-law was ‘deteriorating,’ and urged Gia, who’d pressured Joe to keep fighting, to tell him it was okay to stop.
‘I don’t want to be selfish, but I don’t know if I’m ready to let him go,’ Gia relayed, crying.
Tears flowing: Gia cried as her uncle was candid about her family’s situation
Lost love: Teresa said a prayer at their Easter meal invoking the memory of her mother as she asked for strength and her father, Giacinto Gorga, cried as she mentioned his late wife Antonia
Elsewhere in the episode, Teresa decided not to tell her youngest child Audriana about Joe’s immigration appeal failing.
At first, Teresa only told her daughters Gia and Gabriella about the appeal, but soon Milania found out, though she kept Audriana in the dark.
‘There’s no reason to upset her until I have a final answer,’ Teresa pointed out.
It was almost Easter, and Teresa strove to keep things normal for her kids, stuffing Easter baskets for them to enjoy. On Easter, Teresa said a prayer, invoking the memory of her mother as she asked for strength.
Her father, Giacinto Gorga, cried as she mentioned her mom, and Milania comforted him. They all worried that Giacinto wasn’t feeling well, as he’d been in the hospital often.
Group call: Joe Giudice called his family on Easter while he was in an immigration detention facility
Family love: Joe Gorga took the phone and said: ‘Listen, I f***ing love you, bro, and I miss you. That’s why I don’t like to talk to you bro, because you really break my f***ing heart’
Joe called them from ICE detention, and joked around as though everything were normal. Gorga took the phone and said: ‘Listen, I f***ing love you, bro, and I miss you. That’s why I don’t like to talk to you bro, because you really break my f***ing heart.’
‘You gotta stay strong,’ he said, as Joe tried not to cry, and his daughters started crying, too.
‘Bro, I’m doing everything I could, man,’ Joe insisted during his limited phone call. ‘Enough is enough of this s***.’
Too traumatic: Teresa talked to her husband and later said she felt Audriana was too young to visit him at the ICE facility and it would be traumatic for her
‘It’ll be over soon,’ Milania noted. ‘Next Easter, we’ll be together.’
‘Wherever it’s gonna be, it doesn’t make a difference,’ Joe emphasized.
‘Anywhere is better than there,’ Teresa pointed out, as Audriana sobbed.
The girl wondered if she would get to see her father before he was deported.
Teresa said she didn’t think so, as she felt an ICE facility would be too traumatic for her.
‘Mom, is daddy getting deported?’ Audriana asked imploringly. ‘Will you tell me?’
Giacinto was suddenly looking worse for wear, affected by the family’s stress.
‘I feel like sometimes, why do we have to keep going through all this?’ Teresa wondered. ‘It’s like, enough’s enough.’
A source told People earlier this week of the events that led to the couple’s separation.
Joe and Teresa ‘discussed their future when Teresa and the girls went to Italy in early November and they agreed that each had to move on,’ the insider said. ‘They are doing so amicably and very slowly. Joe has been out on a few dates, Teresa has not. She has been too busy with the girls, with work obligations and taking care of her father.’
The source continued: ‘She is happy for Joe. They have been very friendly with one another and are very supportive of each other’s happiness. They still love one another, but as Teresa told Andy Cohen on the WWHL special, they are separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Neither is interested in a long distance relationship.’
The Real Housewives of New Jersey will return on January 1 on Bravo.