Teen Suspended for Using Term 'Illegal Aliens' Sues High School

Christian McGhee is suing his North Carolina high school after they suspended him for three days for using the term "illegal aliens."

McGhee, 16 said the school violated his First Amendment rights in the lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday, obtained by the New York Post.

"His speech was protected under the First Amendment: he asked his teacher a question that was factual and nonthreatening, and officials could not have reasonably forecast that his question would cause substantial School disruption," the suit said. "Nor did his question actually cause substantial School disruption."

According to McGhee's mother, Leah, he was assigned vocabulary words, which included the word "alien," and the teenager asked the teacher, "Like space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards?"

Another student was offended and allegedly threatened to fight the student, which caused the teacher to call the assistant principal, resulting in the teenager's words being deemed offensive to Hispanic classmates.

"I didn't make a statement directed towards anyone; I asked a question. I wasn't speaking of Hispanics because everyone from other countries needs green cards, and the term 'illegal alien' is an actual term that I hear on the news and can find in the dictionary," Christian said.

Leah emailed school officials and said her son was devastated by the suspension.

He is "concerned that the racism label on his school record will harm his future goal of receiving a track scholarship. We are concerned that he will fall behind in his classes due to being absent for three consecutive days" Leah wrote.

The McGhee family was invited to meet former President Donald Trump at a rally in Wilmington, but it was postponed, the Carolina Journal said. Trump even wrote a letter of recommendation for Christian, the Carolina Journal reported.

The assistant principal refused to remove the suspension from the student's record. The lawsuit said the school had no justification for punishing McGhee.

At a school board meeting, Leah said the family was unable to appeal the suspension because it was less than 10 days, according to the Carolina Journal.

Two board members sent messages to county leaders and residents with Leah's personal arrest record and encouraged them to post it on social media, the Carolina Journal reported.

The student handbook says that "schools may place restrictions on a student's right to free speech when the speech is obscene, abusive, promoting illegal drug use, or is reasonably expected to cause a substantial disruption to the school day," the Carolina Journal reported.