Yet another reason for SoCal Republicans to secede, arriving just a couple weeks after gay history was mandated in K-12 textbooks: The first part of the DREAM Act was signed into law today by Governor Jerry Brown, following years of blockage by former Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger (who had better things to do, like excuse friends' children from murder sentences, and, of course, inseminate).

In fact, AB 130 was signed right here in town, at Los Angeles City College — so now we're most definitely not allowed in the secession club's tree fort.

From here on out, undocumented immigrants (or illegal aliens, depending on your bigot meter) who live in California will be eligible to receive private scholarships from the state's colleges and universities.

The second part of the DREAM Act, which hasn't been able to breeze through the state Legislature quite as easily as AB 130, would allow non-citizens to receive taxpayer-funded financial aid like CalGrants, on top of private money.

AB 131 is obviously a bit more controversial, given illegal immigrants are not allowed to pay income taxes, and thus can't feed into California's financial-aid pool as steadily as the rest of us.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles Tweeted ferociously throughout the signing today. A couple highlights:

law logo2x blaw logo2x bCHIRLA also took the opportunity to bash President Obama for not taking similar steps toward passing the federal version of the DREAM Act.

At an immigration conference in Washington, D.C. today, “the President did not promise anything on immigration and he still expects our vote,” CHIRLA Tweeted. “Hummmm…..”

Upon signing AB 130, Brown almost seemed to take a shot at Obama, as well, via cloaked reference to the POTUS' win the future philosophy.

“The strength and future of California is in the mind,” the governor said — whether or not some of those minds have, oft arbitrarily, been able to lock down a green card.

[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.