As time passed on Joe's sentence — with Teresa
speaking out about how tough life is without him, and the couple's
bankruptcy case dismissed —
shocking news came to the family in October 2018 when a judge ruled that Joe would be deported when he finished his prison sentence in 2019. Even though Giudice has lived in America since he was a child,
he never obtained American citizenship, and immigrants can be deported from the United States if they are convicted of “a crime of moral turpitude” or an “aggravated felony,” according to U.S. law. He appealed the deportation ruling, but in April 2019, the Board of Immigration Appeals
denied his request. His deportation was temporarily delayed and in May 2019,
a judge ruled that he could stay in the United States as the legal battle continued. During January’s
RHONJ reunion,
Teresa seemed optimistic when asked about the possibility that her husband would be sent back to Italy — and implied she’d move there with him. However, she ultimately said they will go their separate ways if and when he is deported. “I’m not doing a long distance relationship. I’m not doing it,” Teresa told Andy Cohen. “I want somebody with me every day.” “I know exactly what happens — I’m sure he’ll be with other women. It happens,”
she added, also citing her daughters' busy lives in New Jersey. “You do the long-distance thing, it’s not going to work. I’d be like, ‘Bye bye.' "