A top American animal scientist is pleading with Immigration New Zealand to let her and her young daughter stay in the country, saying it's a matter of life or death.
Christine Masters fled to Auckland in 2019 because she feared her ex-husband would kill them.
But after she set up a safe and successful life and nearly secured her work-to-resident visa, she was served deportation papers.
Masters now fears being sent to her death. She spoke with Newshub's national correspondent Amanda Gillies.
On a fine June day, she stands alone in the Auckland Domain, basking in the winter sun, soaking up what could be her final weeks in her adopted home, her safe haven.
But Masters still can't escape her biggest fear: it plays heavily and constantly on her mind.
"I used to be most fearful that my daughter would be shot and killed by my ex-husband, but I am more fearful if he doesn't - because he will torture her like he did me," she told Newshub.
Masters fled the US for Auckland with her young daughter Fayth in late 2019, leaving behind an abusive man and marriage, she said.
"I Googled safe places for women. New Zealand came up".
And was it what she hoped for?
"I just got goosebumps because it was immediate freedom," she smiled.
But five years on, that freedom is nearly over. She's being deported back to the US; she must return her daughter.
She can't understand why.
Masters told Newshub her ex-war veteran husband isn't the biological father of her daughter - she used a sperm donor and has the paperwork to prove it.
"I was successful, I didn't need him, and I wanted a child. I was able to go to the doctor and conceive her on my birthday. It was a gift," she said.
But this is where it gets tricky. She said when Fayth was born, her ex put his name on the birth certificate, while Masters was being tended to by doctors.
So, when the couple officially divorced, he was given visitation rights. She was terrified.
"I had already turned in his AR-15 with thousands of bullets to police, [plus] shotguns and pistols. I knew what would happen. I knew he would kill my daughter. Where could I go? How could I keep her safe? I can't protect her from bullets," she said, her voice breaking.
It was at that point she packed a couple of suitcases and fled to New Zealand.
Before long, she got a job at Auckland University as a top animal lab scientist. She also moved into a home in Mt Roskill, and immersed herself in the local Christian community.
For two-and-a-half years, life for mum and daughter was safe and secure, total bliss.
But in June 2022 - when she had nearly secured her work-to-resident visa - she and her daughter were served the deportation papers.
"I remember my ex-husband saying: 'if you ever leave me, there is nowhere on Earth I won't hunt you down'," she said.
Newshub has seen court documents where she alleges he faked having post-traumatic stress disorder and had been physically abusive.
He argued he had made progress in therapy.
The deportation order meant she lost her well-paid job and her health benefits - and then her home.
She now has less than $10 in the bank.
And her legal fight to stay in New Zealand has so far failed, despite applying for a family violence visa, pleading with her local MP, and submitting strong recommendations from her work.
Mum and daughter have to be gone by September, broke and broken.
"We give so much to New Zealand and believe me New Zealand gives back. We are an asset to the country," she said.
Green Party immigration spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez-March told Newshub the situation is heartbreaking and wrong, and he has a message for the Government.
"We have two key messages," he said. "Fix the family violence visa so we don't have situations like this again. Secondly, intervene so we have a strong message that we are going to be supporting victims of family violence," he said.
Newshub asked Immigration Minister Erica Stanford for her response.
We were referred to her Associate Minister Chris Penk, who in a statement said: "The Immigration Act does provide for ministerial intervention as a last resort to migrants who have exhausted all other options. No formal request for ministerial interventions has been received to date in this case."
In response, Masters said she did explore this option.
But after Immigration had denied her so many times, she felt too insignificant to ask for ministerial intervention. Now, she's decided to try again, saying it could be the difference between life or death.
