It's a sad day for the Giudice family. On Wednesday, an immigration court ruled to deport Joe Giudice to his native country of Italy. Teresa Giudice never expected this to happen, a source told People.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey star "never imagined Joe would really get deported," the source said.
In 2016, Joe began serving a 41-month sentence in prison for mail, wire, and bankruptcy fraud. Teresa served 11 months in prison for the same crimes in 2015.
After this new ruling, Joe has 30 days to appeal the decision. Teresa did not appear in immigration court.
"This is going to break her," the insider said. "She always knew that this was a possibility, but she put it out of her head. That's the only way she could go on living day to day."
While Joe deals with his legal battles, he'd rather Teresa focus on "their girls and things at home," the source explained. Joe and Teresa have four daughters together.
On Wednesday, an immigration court ruled that Joe Giudice will be deported to his native country of Italy.
The decision comes after Joe was sentenced to 41 months in prison for mail, wire, and bankruptcy fraud. He began serving his sentence in March 2016.
Teresa, on the other hand, served a little over 11 months for the same crimes and was released in December 2015.
Joe appeared at the court hearing through Skype from prison. Teresa didn't attend, however.
A source told People that her decision not to go to the hearing isn't surprising. The 46-year-old reality TV star prefers to focus on the positive.
"That's why she hates going to see him in prison, too. It's just like, 'Keep busy and don't think about the bad stuff.' [It's] a very Italian way to be," the insider explained.
And her husband is in favor of that approach.
"Joe encourages Teresa to be this way," the source said. "He feels a lot of guilt over what happened and would rather she just remained focused on their girls and things at home than have to worry about another one of his problems."
Unfortunately, the deportation might throw that plan off track.
"It's sad but this one will be too hard to ignore," the source said.
However, the source is confident that Teresa will "get through this."
"Teresa is incredibly strong, and whether she admits it or not, I think she had secretly prepared for this. Since Joe's been gone, Teresa's grown into her independence. She's taken control of her life, and she's raised those girls well."
Teresa is a mom to Gia, 17; Gabriella, 14; Milania, 12; and Audriana, 9.
"It's sad, but she's going to handle this just as well as she's handled everything else. She'll push her own feelings aside to make sure her daughters are being taken care of. Teresa's a big girl. She'll put on a brave face throughout it all."
