Photo Credit: INF
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Joe Giudice has been behind bars for three years as of this month for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud and has just been released and immediately placed in ICE custody. Guidice has been in the US since he was an infant but never got US citizenship. He has a green card but because of his criminal conviction, he’s now eligible of being deported.
“It appears Joe Giudice may be a lawful permanent resident,” an immigration attorney tells the site Reality Tea, “that is, he has a green card.” Meaning: “Lawful permanent residence gives non-U.S. citizens the right to live and work indefinitely in the U.S. under certain conditions. One of the obvious conditions is that LPRs do not commit crimes, although most traffic offenses and misdemeanors will not give rise to deportation proceedings.”
Joe Giudice’s crimes are considered aggravated felonies and under the Immigration and Nationality Act, they’re considered deportable offenses.
“If he is deemed to only have been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude which do not rise to the level of aggravated felonies, he may be eligible to apply for a waiver of removal and keep his green card in the discretion of the immigration judge.”
“If Joe is ordered removed from the U.S., he and his family had best accept that he will never return,” the attorney continues. “It does not matter that Teresa is a U.S. citizen and that he has four U.S. citizen daughters.The Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyer who will represent the U.S. government in any removal proceedings will undoubtedly argue that they can visit him in Italy or they can meet up in third countries. However, most countries will not give tourist visas to convicted felons.” But if Teresa is convicted in federal court she could be “unable” to travel overseas “easily.”
“Unfortunately, a green card holder who is under indictment for any reason cannot apply for naturalization,” the attorney says. “Since Joe has been fighting state court charges for the past few years, naturalization was not an option. This new indictment essentially ensures that he will never apply for naturalization in the U.S.”
It isn’t clear where Giudice will be going after being detained by ICE but he’s likely going to be held in an ICE detention center for some time. And since his case is pending, he’ll remain there until he gets a court date.
The most devastating part in all of this is that his wife Teresa said she’ll divorce him if he gets deported despite the four children they have together. The problem with that is that they both were involved in these criminal acts together with her hiding income while in bankruptcy and likely knew about the falsified W2’s and tax returns. And if she didn’t know, she should have as it involves her finances. Whatever Joe did was for the both of them and if he gets deported, it would only be fair to follow him to Italy since they were in it together. The only justifiable reason not to would be if her federal conviction keeps her from international travel
#RHONJ star Joe Giudice’s lawyer tells CNN he’s out of prison and currently in ICE custody
— Chloe Melas (@Chloe_Melas) March 14, 2019
