Members of the Chattooga County Democratic Party organized a peaceful protest in downtown Summerville on Saturday in support of a Trion High School student currently being held by federal immigration authorities.

The protest was held in front of the Chattooga County Courthouse, where demonstrators gathered carrying signs and expressing support for 19-year-old Elder Aguilar-Macario, a Trion High School senior who was taken into custody following a traffic stop in Walker County earlier this month.

According to reports, Aguilar-Macario was stopped by the Georgia State Patrol and charged with driving without a license and failure to maintain lane. After being booked into the Walker County Jail, immigration officials were contacted through the county’s partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He was later transferred into federal custody.

Friends, classmates, and supporters say Aguilar-Macario has attended Trion schools since arriving in the United States as a child and was only weeks away from graduation at the time of his arrest. Reports also noted that he recently began a welding program at Georgia Northwestern Technical College and played soccer for Trion High School.

Elder’s family was in attendance at the protest on Saturday.

Organizers of Saturday’s protest said the event was intended to peacefully show community support for the student and his family while calling attention to concerns over immigration enforcement involving students and longtime community members.  Organizers say that another protest may take place in the near future.