Joe Exotic and his husband Jorge Marquez Flores are speaking out for the first time following the latter’s deportation from America Saturday … and they both confirm their final goodbye was “pretty emotional.”

The “Tiger King” star and his better half tell TMZ they knew the day they’d be ripped apart was coming — so they made sure to treat every day like it was their last.

Jorge — who spoke to TMZ from a friend’s house in Mexico — gave a glimpse into their last weeks together, recalling their frequent trips to the library and gym … even noting they bonded as they worked on their English and Spanish skills together.

They have not spoken to each other since Jorge’s exit from the Federal Medical Center Fort Worth in Texas on Friday … but Jorge says he has already written Joe a handful of letters and he’s hoping he gets to read them.

It seems like it’s a pretty tough time for Joe — who is serving a 21-year sentence for a murder-for-hire plot against his nemesis Carole Baskin — ’cause he also tells us his cancer is out of remission and has spread to his left lung.

The former zookeeper is not too worried about his cancer, though … he confirms to TMZ he is refusing all treatment and is focused on getting out of prison so he can be reunited with his Jorge.

He adds he’d rather meet his two deceased husbands — Travis Maldonado and Brian Rhyne — and his brother in Heaven than go through more chemo and radiation.

His long-running plan to get President Donald Trump‘s attention for a pardon has so far been a dead end … despite his constant pleas and argument that cast members on Season 2 of “Tiger King” committed perjury under government pressure to implicate him in the case.