Joe Giudice’s Petition For Stay Of Removal Is Granted Amid Deportation Battle

Published on May 23, 2019.

After more than one month living in ICE custody since he was released from prison, Real Housewives of New Jersey star Joe Giudice is seeing a silver lining in his ongoing deportation battle.

According to reports, Giudice was granted a stay of removal which means he gets to remain in the United States at least a little longer. “The petitioner’s motion for a stay of removal is granted. The requirements for granting a stay have been satisfied. … The temporary stay of removal previously granted is vacated as no longer necessary,” the documents state. “Petitioner’s unopposed motions to seal Exhibit C to the Moseley Declaration and to amend/correct his stay motion are granted.”

“We are grateful that the Court has granted the stay,” Joe’s attorney told PEOPLE in a statement. “Joe looks forward to continuing this fight to the very end. There is nothing more important to him than returning home to his wife and kids.”

While finishing out his 41-month prison sentence for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud, Joe Giudice was told by a judge that he was ordered to be deported back to Italy. “Based upon the law, I find you deportable and ineligible for any kind of relief,” Judge John Ellington reportedly announced during the hearing back in October.

Despite the fact Giudice has lived in the States since he was a young child, it seems he never obtained an American Citizenship and under law immigrants can be deported if they are found guilty of “a crime of moral turpitude” or an “aggravated felony.”

Along with Joe’s legal battle, one of his daughters, Gia, has started a petition pleading with President Donald Trump to have her father remain in the U.S.

She created the petition on behalf of her, her siblings and her mother Teresa urging the President to intervene. She argued in her petition: “My father is not a danger to society.”

“He knows nothing of Italian culture, laws, societal norms, he has no immediate family and will not be able to secure work in this foreign land,” she wrote.