A panel of MPs have asked the Government to consider changing a controversial immigration rule, which is leading to the deportation of disabled children.
The Acceptable Standards of Health settings are used by New Zealand immigration services and are designed to block migrants from settling here if they are living with certain disabilities.
Officials make their decisions based on the expense to the taxpayer. Most disabled migrants - including children - are not allowed to stay if their condition is likely to cost the health system more than $81,000 over five years.
The rule has left Chilean migrant worker Carolina Vásquez, and her 18-year-old daughter Ignacia, facing an uncertain future.
Vásquez has worked as a chef in Christchurch for seven years. She brought Ignacia, who has a cognitive disability, with her on a student visa and is fighting to keep her in New Zealand.
"The reality is that she doesn't speak, but she has a very good comprehension," the mother said this week.
"It's like, 'we open the door for everyone', but if someone is special for a health condition or something that happened in their life, or any reason, [then] 'sorry, the door is closed'."
The mother applied for residency for her family including Ignacia and her 19-year-old brother Fernando but is still waiting to hear the result.
She felt the Acceptable Standards of Health rules were discriminatory.
"All the rest of the family could be here, live together, happy forever, but the special person that needs more protection has to leave," she said.
"You know, how you going to do that, especially when it's your son or your daughter, your baby?"
In October, a select committee made up of MPs from across the house met to consider the effect of the policy on children.
The panel was comprised of several Labour members, including Marja Lubeck, Camilla Belich, Jo Luxton, Ibrahim Omer and Angela Roberts.
It also involved ACT's Chris Baillie, Jan Logie of the Green Party and Erica Stanford and Penny Simmonds from National.
The majority of those MPs recommended an upcoming Government review of immigration instructions should "consider creating exemptions for dependent children".
But the review is yet to begin, and debate continued with politicians weighing in on both sides of the coin.
ACT leader David Seymour argued the current conditions - with the cap of $81,000 over five years - was "actually correct". He felt it was fair protection for New Zealanders as there are limited resources to help Kiwis with disabilities.
"It's heart-breaking but anyone who denies that there's a difficult choice for the country to make is not being honest," he said.
"I would like to say New Zealand can welcome people with no conditions, but we have to be honest and say that makes it harder to help those people who are already residents and citizens living with a disability in New Zealand."
Whereas the Green Party immigration spokesperson, Ricardo Menéndez March, described the policy as "cruel" and "inhumane".
He called on the Government to change the policy immediately, saying it was separating and stigmatising disabled families.
"The fact that we are standing by this regime is absolutely appalling," he said.
"We should acknowledge the contributions that everyone can make in Aotearoa and acknowledge the human rights that people have."
Immigration Minister Michael Wood confirmed the effect on children would be considered as part of the wider review the Government is holding next year.
"Whenever one of these cases comes up, and there is a child who has a serious health condition, your heart goes out and of course we all want to support that family, and if I was the parent in that situation I would take the same point of view," he said.
"[But] we do also have a responsibility within our broader immigration system to look at the broader costs, which do get borne by New Zealanders more generally, and sometimes those costs can be very, very high depending on the types of conditions."
As the debate continues, the migrant families involved remain terrified of separation.
For Carolina and Ignacia, the dream of living in New Zealand as a family could end at any moment.
If Ignacia failed to get residency because of her disability, the entire family would leave after seven years of work here.
"Sometimes my heart is completely broken, I want to cry for one day," the mother said.
"Some people they don't know the reality, they don't know how hard it is to leave your country, leave your family, leave your kid sometimes because you're trying, looking for a better future."
She said she had been working very hard for Aotearoa - a country her family loved.
"We are more than numbers, we are human, we are a person," she said.
For now, the family can only hope Ignacia’s disability will be deemed acceptable.
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