Joe Giudice's Deportation Appeal Denied by ICE: 'We Are Extremely Disappointed,' Lawyer Says

His wife, The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice, has admitted that she and Joe would go their separate ways if he were deported

Joe Giudice is one step closer to deportation as his appeal against the ruling was denied earlier this month.

“We are extremely disappointed that the Board of Immigration Appeals has denied Mr. Giudice’s appeal,” James J. Leonard Jr., the Giudice family attorney, tells PEOPLE in a statement. “We have filed a stay with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and will continue to fight to keep Mr. Giudice in the United States, the only country he know, and reunite him with his wife and four daughters.”

The Board of Immigration Appeals’ April 6 decision leaves Joe’s future up in the air.

In October, an immigration court ruled to deport Joe to his native Italy after 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.)

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Joe, 48, filed an appeal against the order in November, but a final decision has not yet been made. Since he was released from prison in March, Giudice has been awaiting his fate at a facility in western Pennsylvania which houses immigration detainees.

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His wife, The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice, has admitted that she and Joe would go their separate ways if he were deported. “I’m not doing a long-distance relationship. I’m not doing it,” she said on the RHONJ season 9 reunion. “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. “You do the long-distance thing, it’s not going to work. I’d be like, ‘Bye bye.’ “

RELATED VIDEO: Teresa Giudice Steps Out for Brother’s Book Launch After Husband Joe Is Released from Prison

The couple — who have been married since 1998 and share daughters Gia, 18, Gabriella, 15, Milania, 13, and Audriana, 10 — has remained by one another’s side through their legal problems, which first sent Teresa to prison for 11 months on mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud charges (she was released on Dec. 23, 2015) before Joe began his sentence for the same crimes in March 2016.