As Joe Giudice’s future hangs in the balance he and his wife Teresa Giudice are remaining as strong as they can.
“We’re both pretty strong, and we’re both there for each other,” Teresa tells PEOPLE about Joe, who is currently finished out his 41-month prison sentence. Joe is set to be released from prison in March 2019.
As of now, Joe is set to be deported back to Italy after leaving prison but the family plans to do everything they can to keep Joe in the United States.
Teresa admits that her daughters are her inspiration to remain as strong as possible during this trying time.
“My four daughters, they’re my main priority. So if I crumble up, it’s not going to be good for them, you know? I have … to keep everything going as normal as possible for my four daughters,” says Teresa. “They have school, they have their activities. Everything is going on, so that’s how I deal with it. I try to keep everything as normal as possible and I’m not going to be in a corner like crying or not attending to my kids. What good would that be for them?”
However, when a judge ruled on October 10, 2018, that Joe would be deported back to Italy following prison, Teresa says her world was rocked.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey star says she never thought of Joe as an immigrant and admits she didn’t even know he wasn’t a citizen when they got married.
“When I married him, I didn’t know. I remember I tried to make him, I tried to fill out the paperwork,” Teresa says of Joe not applying to become a US citizen.
“It was never on my radar. It’s not like I married an immigrant and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I have to make him an American citizen.’ Never thought of that at all,” she adds. “I mean, I guess that that was his parent’s responsibility. I mean they came here when he was a year old. I mean his brother and sister, they were born here. And they’re American.”
Teresa says she and Joe are “very upset” about the deportation ruling and that she and her daughters have visited Joe since the news broke.
“He’s a strong guy and he’s just — again, we’re just doing the best we can,” says Teresa, who adds, “You just gotta just deal with it, you know?”
While Teresa remains optimistic she still upset about the whole situation. Teresa says it makes her angry to think about the time Joe has lost with his children over the last three years.
“Of course I’m very angry,” Teresa says of Joe. “I’m just angry like a lot of things. I wish my husband would have crossed every T, dotted every I. There was also another person involved and nothing happened to that person, which is very sad. There’s a lot of scenarios. I lost my mom. I’m angry about that. You know? I lost time with my mom because I was away. There’s a lot. I lost time with my daughters while I was away. Children need their mom.”
“He left when Adriana was 6. She’s 9 now. Yeah. It’s two and a half years. I mean it’s going to be three years,” she shares. “He’s lost three years with his children.”
“The adults can handle anything. Adults can handle it because they’re big. That’s why we’re adults. We can handle it. But who would it affect the most? It’s the children,” Teresa explains. “And that’s what’s sad about it because the children are affected by it. It’s very sad because they’re going through all this heartache, meanwhile, it’s not even their fault. You know? They’re the ones that hurt the most.”
While they wait for the appeal process Teresa says she’s “taking it day by day” and doing “whatever we have to do.”
“Whatever the attorneys tell me. Whatever they tell me, that’s what I do,” says Teresa. “You know, we’re going to fight this.”
Adding, “I have my four daughters, I have my dad who lives with me. I gotta keep it together.”
Despite rumors, Teresa says she’s not asked President Donald Trump for help in Joe’s deportation case although she’s not against it.
“I don’t have a relationship with Mr. Donald Trump in that way,” Teresa tells PEOPLE. But, adds “I would take his call. If he would call me, of course, I would take his call.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey returns for its ninth season on November 7 at 9 pm.
Thoughts on Teresa’s interview? Do you think the system is making an example of Joe? Will Joe win his appeal? Sound off below!
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