The Giudice family is on edge as they await the verdict in patriarch Joe Giudice’s deportation case.

“Joe’s in a tough spot right now,” Teresa Giudice’s brother, Joe Gorga, tells Us Weekly exclusively. “He got released [from prison in March] — ICE took him over — and he’s miserable. He’s in a really bad spot. He’s locked up in a jail cell with bars. The other facility that he was at, he wasn’t in a jail cell. So he’s having a very, very hard time, and he really wants to get out.”

In October 2018, an immigration judge ordered Joe, 46, to be deported to his native Italy after completing his 41-month prison sentence for fraud. Joe filed an appeal the following month, which “could take another year” to be approved or denied, according to Gorga.

“The guy is just in misery,” the Gorga Guide to Success author, 39, tells Us. “We don’t know anything yet.”

Teresa, 46, is also having a tough time. “Teresa’s put up a good front, but our relationship is very tight right now and [I] know she breaks down to me,” Gorga adds. “She just has to keep it strong for those for little girls [Gia, 18, Gabriella, 14, Milania, 13, and Audriana, 9]. The girls are having it rough also. They’re really struggling. … It’s just very, very hard. The family is going through a very tough time right now.”

The Real Housewives of New Jersey star confirmed during the season 9 reunion, which aired in March, that she will leave her husband of nearly 20 years if he is deported — and, according to Gorga, she has vowed to stand by that decision.

“If he’s deported, she’s not going to go to Italy,” he tells Us. “She’s not going to move her children. It’s just that there’s nothing to do in Italy. There’s no jobs; the best you can do is work in a restaurant or work in a gas station. It’s very difficult in Italy. … So I believe she’s making the right decision for her and for her girls.”

That said, the Bravo personality (who served 11 months in prison in 2015 on similar fraud charges) and her daughters have stayed in contact with Joe while he is in ICE custody.

“They talk almost every day,” Gorga tells Us. “Believe it or not, he could call as many times as he wants. It’s crazy. I mean, if he wants to call 30 times a day, he can. So they talk a lot. They haven’t seen him yet but I know they’re planning to go.”

In the meantime, Teresa’s emotions are “all over the place,” according to her brother, who has been hosting his “Grow With Gorga” real estate seminars across the U.S. since late March.

“Imagine your life’s on hold for five years. You don’t know what’s going on. It’s hard,” Gorga explains. “You’re paying attorney bills and constantly bills, bills, bills and you try to catch up on the old tax bills and it’s just life. Life is very hard for them.”

With reporting by Nicole Pajer