The daughters of a popular reality television series pleaded with the U.S. president on April 20 to intervene in their father’s deportation to Italy.
Milania Giudice, 14, and sister Gia, 18, have circulated viral internet posts asking President Donald Trump to grant an exemption for “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” Star Joe Giudice, 46.
“We will never stop fighting for you daddy. It’s not the same without you. I miss you terribly. I wouldn’t be the person I am today with out you, I wouldn’t know how to stay strong,” Milania said in an Instagram post dated April 20.
Trump has not responded to the appeal.
Milania appealed for the president for help release her father from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Pennsylvania after he was discharged from prison.
“I need you home daddy. All I want is to be a family again. I love you endlessly,” she said.
Joe, whose name given at birth was Giuseppe, was released from a federal prison on March 14 after being sentenced to 41 months for fraud. After an immigration court ruled in October 2018 that he would be deported, he lodged an appeal the next month. However, the appeal was denied five months later in April.
He previously admitted on The Real Housewives of New Jersey he had lived in the United States since he was 1-year-old but he never acquired U.S. citizenship, Fox News reported.
Joe’s family attorney said on April 18 his client is “extremely disappointed” by the court’s ruling.
“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 knows, and reunite him with his wife and four daughters,” he told Fox News.
Milania separately reposted a plea for Trump to intervene in her father’s deportation.
“#donaldtrump do something [to] intervene, I voted for you because I support you and what you stand for and your strong belief to take a positive stance and make a change in this country, aside from the fact that you supported your own campaign financially,” she said in a Twitter post dated April 20.
“If you can do all of those things and all the things you have done I think you can make a motion to bring this man home back to his family instead of sending him to a country that he has no ties to besides his cultural background please help … make a motion to pardon Joe Giudice.”
Meanwhile, Gia separately launched a change.org petition for Trump to give a pardon for her father and prevent him from being deported.
“My mother and father have fought tirelessly to pay back every single penny of restitution to court deemed they owe. They have made a mistake but rectified it through serving time and by financially satisfying all that was owed,” she said on the petition website. “My father is there for us in every possible way a father could be. He has always been our handyman, our confidant, our cheerleader, our challenger and most importantly our protector.”
Gia asked Trump to review the petition and pardon her father from a life away from his family members.
“Relieve him of this life sentence the courts are bestowing on him, yes in Italy he will no longer be incarcerated but will he ever be free if kept from his family and be able to be a productive member of society?” she said.
The petition attracted more than 49,200 signatures out of its 35,000 signature goal target at the time of publication.
