Judges have grantedJoe Giudice‘s request to be released from ICE custody and move to Italy, where he will continue to appeal hisdeportation order.
Giudice family attorney James J. Leonard confirms to PEOPLE that theReal Housewives of New Jerseystar’s petition,which he filed in late September, has been approved.
Joe had already been denied his original request to be released to the New Jersey home he shares with wifeTeresa Giudiceand their four daughters: Gia, 18, Gabriella, 15, Milania, 14, and Audriana, 10.
They also stated that Joe is still hopeful his appeal will be granted, allowing him to stay in the United States. In the event that he does prevail in his case after he has been sent to Italy, Joe requests that ICE facilitate his return home.
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According to E! News, whichfirst reported the news of Joe’s request being granted, the father of four is expected to return to Italy in the coming weeks. Flight arrangements and a travel document are in the works.
Joe has been away since he began a 41-month prison sentence for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud in March 2016.
He wasreleased from prisonlast March but is currently being held in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Clinton County Correctional Center in Pennsylvania, while he awaits a decision on his deportation ruling.
In October, an immigration court ruled todeport Joeto hisnative Italyafter his prison sentence. (Even though he has lived in the United States since he was a child,he never obtained American citizenship, and immigrants can be deported if they are convicted of “a crime of moral turpitude” or an “aggravated felony,” according to U.S. law.)
His requests to appeal the deportation ruling have thus farbeen denied. A final decision is pending, with a court date scheduled for November.
The Giudice Family.Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images
A source previously told PEOPLE that Joe is losing “hope” that he’ll ever return home to be reunited with his family.
“These past few months in ICE [custody] have been harder for Joe than prison was. The conditions there are terrible,” the source said. “He’s so close to freedom, yet so far away. Not being able to see his family, and knowing that he won’t be able to be back home with them, has really broken him.”
“He’s fighting, but he’s really resigned to the fact that he’ll be deported,” the source continued. “And losing that hope has left him bitter, angry, and unhappy. He’s a shell of who he used to be.”
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But despite fights the two have had, Teresa is still hoping for the best for Joe.
“Teresa and Joe have had their arguments in the past few months, but Teresa doesn’t want Joe to get deported,” the source told PEOPLE. “She wants him to come home for their family. She loves Joe and it hurts her to see how he is being treated.”
source: people.com
