Townhall Media

Remember That Student Who Was Suspended for Saying ‘Illegal Alien’ in Class? Well…

June 9, 2025

(Townhall Media)—There’s been an important update in the saga surrounding Christian McGhee, the North Carolina teenager who was suspending after saying “illegal alien” at school.

To recap, in 2024, Leah covered how the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit against the Davidson County Board of Education on behalf of McGhee after he was suspended for using the legally correct term, “illegal alien,” in a class discussion.

McGhee, who was 16 years old, was given a three-day suspension over the remark. McGhee reportedly asked his teacher if the term “alien” referred to “space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards.”

The school equated the remark to using a racial slur.

Late last week, the New York Post reported that McGhee’s family and the school board settled on Wednesday.

Reportedly, the school board has agreed to remove all references to racial bias in McGhee’s school record and issue a public apology “for the mischaracterization of racial bias” in his record, documents show.

That’s not all. The school board will also provide McGhee $20,000 in compensation to help his family with tuition payments at his new private school.

“We’ll have more to say after that hearing, which is currently scheduled for July 1st. We’re pleased to take this important step toward clearing our client’s name,” the lawyer added.

The Post reported that this situation at school escalated, in part, because a Hispanic person in McGhee’s class “joked” that he would “kick Christian’s ass.”

The school principal, Eric Anderson, reportedly claimed that McGhee’s comments were “racially motivated.”