Teen Suspended for Saying 'Illegal Alien' Sparks Republican Outrage

Republicans on Tuesday expressed anger about a 16-year-old high school student suspended for using the term "illegal alien."

According to the Carolina Journal, Christian McGhee was suspended from Central Davidson High School in Lexington, North Carolina, for three days last week after he allegedly said the term during an English class assignment.

The newspaper reported that the boy's mother, Leah McGhee, said a teacher had given an assignment that used the word "alien," and Christian responded by asking if the teacher meant "like space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards?"

The conservative X account Libs of TikTok posted on Tuesday about the teen's suspension, saying his academic record could be "damaged." The post had garnered 1 million views as of 4 p.m. ET Tuesday.

"Please support this based student by helping to raise awareness to his story!" Libs of TikTok wrote.

Newsweek reached out to members of Central Davidson High School's staff via email on Tuesday for comment. One staff member replied by saying they cannot discuss a specific student or their actions due to federal student privacy protections.

"Please know that Davidson County Schools administrators take all discipline incidents seriously and investigate each one thoroughly," the staff member's message to Newsweek read. "Any violation of the code of conduct is handled appropriately by administrators."

The Carolina Journal said it had obtained an email describing the incident that was sent to local officials. The email said another "young man in class took offense" to Christian's remark and wanted to fight.

"Ultimately, his words were deemed by administrative staff to be offensive and disrespectful to classmates who are Hispanic," the Carolina Journal wrote.

"Because of his question, our son was disciplined and given THREE days OUT of school suspension for 'racism,'" Leah McGhee said in the email, per the Carolina Journal. "He is devastated and 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."

On Tuesday, Leah McGhee appeared on The Pete Kaliner Show, which airs on the radio station WBT, and discussed the matter in more detail. She said the family had once lived in England, and Christian mentioned how people from that country also need green cards to reside in the U.S.

McGhee said she and her husband met with the school's assistant principal and told him "illegal alien" is a term their son can look up in the dictionary.

"It is a term used as federal code, and it is a term that is heard frequently on many news broadcasts," she said. "I feel that if this was handled properly in the classroom, it could have easily been used as a teachable moment for everyone."

The Carolina Journal reported that Republican state Senator Steve Jarvis contacted the school district's superintendent for information on the incident. He told the newspaper he asked school officials to seek a fair outcome but declined to state a position without knowing more about what happened.

"I do not see [how] that would be an offensive statement, just in getting clarification," Jarvis said to the Journal. "But there again, I don't know. I don't know the situation of this particular incident."

Libs of TikTok's post has received a large number of responses, including from X owner Elon Musk, who called the suspension "absurd," and from conservative personality Ian Miles Cheong.

"Insane. How does one get suspended for using the term illegal alien?" Cheong wrote.

Other Republican and conservative-leaning users of X have also posted about the teenager's suspension, with @leslibless writing that the disciplinary action against the teen is "CRAZY!"

"'Illegal alien' is the language used in US law. Teacher's wrong, young man is right. Spread the word," Buzz Patterson, a political author and retired United States Air Force pilot, said on X.