A Brazilian national believes he was ambushed by ICE agents as he took the initial step to obtain a green card to remain with his American wife and child, telling the Herald during a jailhouse interview his dream turned into a nightmare.

“I was so excited to go there. We couldn’t breathe (the previous) night. We were so excited to get everything done. And when we got there, they set us up pretty much. I felt like I went there to get arrested,” Fabiano de Oliveira said yesterday.

READ EARLIER STORIES:

ICE arresting spouses seeking legal residency

Detainee’s wife: ‘Do the right thing’

He spoke over the telephone from the Plymouth County Correctional Facility, where he’s been since his arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Jan. 9. On that morning, he and his wife interviewed for a marriage petition in Lawrence, where ICE agents handcuffed him while executing a deportation order.

De Oliveira, 33, of Beverly, is a painter and has been married to Karah de Oliveira, 27, since 2016. The couple have a 5-year-old boy.

They were at the interview beginning the process of determining if their marriage was legitimate in the eyes of the law. The interview is the initial step in obtaining a green card for illegal immigrants married to American spouses.

“I put my faith in God — I will be with my family soon,” he said.

De Oliveira of Resplendor, Brazil, acknowledges he’s been in the country illegally since 2005.

He said the day of his arrest — in which the couple was granted the marriage petition — quickly turned awful.

“They didn’t give us a second of happiness. They just arrested me right there,” he said.

“It’s my own doing. But it’s not just me. There’s my son. There’s my wife involved in this. They’re both American citizens. They don’t have to suffer through this.”

Todd Lyons, ICE’s enforcement and removal operations deputy field office director, said this week the agency does work with the country’s branches of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on some cases.

“All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest,” Lyons said.

“ICE may work with USCIS on certain cases, which may include unexecuted final orders of removal, as determined on a case-by-case basis.”

De Oliveira has a nearly spotless record that only includes a driving without a license infraction, his lawyer Jeffrey B. Rubin said.

A difficult aspect of his stint in jail has been knowing his wife is working two jobs and taking care of their boy without him, de Oliveira said.

His voice cracked while thinking about not being able to tuck his son in every night.

“I can’t even talk to him on the phone. I feel so bad. … I cry every night thinking about him.”

Rubin can negotiate with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston to release him.

The case is now being overseen by U.S. District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf, who has given the opposing sides until Thursday to file reports. Wolf may choose to hold a hearing in his courtroom after that.

A spokeswoman with U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling’s office declined comment yesterday.

Karah de Oliveira said she’s hopeful her family will be reunited with Fabiano soon.

“For selfish reasons, I want him out as soon as possible,” she said.

“But if a federal judge ruled in our favor and stopped ICE from doing this, that would be even better.”