This passage raises a valid question—why is the freedom to remain in the U.S. more valuable than other kinds of liberty?— though it may prove to be a time bomb designed to blow up myriad laws that Gorsuch dislikes. Congress (and state legislatures) routinely pass nebulous statutes, then charge government agencies with interpreting and implementing them. Gorsuch seems to believe that all laws that deprive individuals of “life, liberty, or property” should be scrutinized carefully, particularly when legislators simply “handed off the job of lawmaking” to somebody else. Such a rule could jeopardize business and environmental regulations that progressives support. On the other hand, it could also imperil policies favored by law-and-order conservatives, such as those permitting civil forfeiture and unlimited detention of sex offenders.

Regardless of where Gorsuch takes this idea in the future, he deserves credit for following his principles to a fundamentally liberal result. The justice channeled his inner Scalia, drawing upon a deep skepticism of the government’s power to capriciously punish citizens and immigrants alike. Will his reasoning help a future court annihilate the administrative state? Maybe! But it might rein in overzealous police and prosecutors, too. Progressives should savor their SCOTUS wins where they can find them. And Dimaya is, without a doubt, a landmark liberal victory.