Residing in the United States without proper immigration papers isn't usually a crime. Local police have enough actual crime on their hands without worrying about undocumented immigrants. Expecting local police to enforce federal immigration laws is a waste of resources, so it isn't surprising that the Governor of Massachusetts rescinded his predecessor's agreement to use state police to arrest violators of federal immigration laws.

Mr. Patrick said doing away with the arrangement negotiated by Mr. Romney would allow state troopers to maintain a focus on gun-, drug- and gang-related crime. “The wisest and most practical course,” he said, “is for state troopers to focus on enforcing Massachusetts laws.”

The governor was joined at the news conference by the Massachusetts secretary of public safety, Kevin M. Burke, who said state police officials had expressed concern that the increased responsibilities would overburden their officers. “It would definitely have affected, according to their analysis, their ability to deal with their core mission” of enforcing state law, Mr. Burke said.

Kudos to Gov. Patrick for resisting the federalization of local law enforcement.