A student at a North Carolina high school was suspended for three days for using the term “illegal alien” in class.

Leah McGhee, the mother of a Central Davidson High School student, says her son’s teacher assigned various vocabulary words to students in English class last week, with one of the words being “alien.” Her son then asked for clarification on the word, asking the teacher, “like space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards,” prompting the suspension.