A Mexican immigrant who twice entered the U.S. illegally has one man in particular to thank for being able to live and work in Oklahoma City with his family — Judge Neil M. Gorsuch.

Gorsuch, the nominee President Donald Trump is betting on to be his Supreme Court tie-breaker, wrote a 2016 ruling permitting Hugo Rosario Gutierrez-Brizuela to stay in the U.S. and, his lawyer hopes, within a few years become a citizen.

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The opinion suggests Gorsuch’s disposition “to resist overweening exercises of executive power,” said Michael W. McConnell, a professor at Stanford Law School.

“Concern about Chevron might logically lead one to be concerned about executive unilateralism in other areas, including immigration,” said McConnell, a former judge who sat on the Denver-based appeals court with Gorsuch.