Wilbur Cross High School students and other demonstrators gathered on the steps of a New Haven courthouse two days before Christmas, to draw attention to a classmate's custody fight with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Mario Aguilar was arrested in September when he appeared for a court date in Milford in response to a car crash.

"He was on the steps of the courthouse and ICE arrested him before he could go in and dispute the criminal charges," said Ben Halderman, Aguilar's attorney.

He was seeking asylum from Guatemala but has been in immigration custody for several months. With the holidays approaching, Wilbur Cross High School Principal Edith Johnson says she's very concerned about him

“I look at it every day like he is one of my kids," she said. "Yes, he is 18, yes, he is undocumented, but you have this young man who came to school every day, worked 30 hours, who was a good person, a good student -- everything you would want in a high school kid."

"Will his family be able to see him at the holidays? It doesn't look that way," Halderman said. "I think I will be bringing Christmas cards his friends wrote and that is about it."

Demonstrators also plan to write letters to officials.

ICE released a short statement at the time of Aguilar's arrest saying he was ordered detained for missing a court date related to his arrest at the southern border. His attorney disputed the claim.