Rep. Renee Ellmers got into a heated argument with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham about immigration reform Thursday, with the Republican lawmaker saying Ingraham was taking an “ignorant position” and Ingraham accusing Ellmers of borrowing liberal talking points.

The North Carolina congresswoman has supported a way for immigrants in the country illegally to achieve citizenship, drawing flak from her primary opponent who accused her of supporting amnesty.

Story Continued Below

On the “Laura Ingraham Show” on Thursday, Ingraham, who is strongly against immigration reform, asked Ellmers about her position.

( CARTOONS: Matt Wuerker on immigration)

“First of all, I don’t support a pathway to citizenship or amnesty,” Ellmers said, according to Breitbart audio of the exchange that Ingraham later tweeted. “Our farmers in North Carolina have come to me over and over again: The system is broken. It’s been broken for several years.”

Ingraham quickly cut her off, saying, “that’s a liberal line.” What followed was a contentious 10-minute interview with the two women frequently talking over each other and Ingraham repeatedly accusing Ellmers of borrowing lines from immigration reform advocate Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and national Hispanic organization La Raza.

Ingraham asked Ellmers if the country needs more foreign workers, invoking her mother who worked as a waitress for 40 years and the high number of unemployed Americans.

“We have to deal with those who are here, who are living in the shadows. That’s what we have to deal with,” Ellmers said.

“What you just said is infuriating to my listeners, I’m speaking for them right now,” Ingraham interrupted, raising her voice. “Your responsibility, I imagine, is to your constituents, who are legal residents and American citizens whose lives are slipping away from them right now, their middle-class lives are being flattened.”

( PHOTOS: An immigration naturalization ceremony)

“It is the little guy that is being hurt by this, Laura,” Ellmers said. “By your position on this, you are supporting de facto amnesty.”

Ingraham again said Ellmers was repeating “another Chuck Schumer line,” which Ellmers denied, saying she thinks for herself.

“You are so locked into anything positive the Republican has to do for your job security that you will look at this issue and fight it without even looking at the facts. I’d love for you to get some of my farmers on the air with you,” Ellmers said.

“If you’re a farmer and can’t make a living by following the laws right now, then you shouldn’t be in business,” Ingraham said. “If you can’t operate in a free market economy and respect sovereignty, the rule of law, and American immigration law, you’re right, Congresswoman, I don’t think you should be in business today. … You realize your farmers said Americans are lazy … do you agree with those people?”

“I stand with my North Carolina farmers who say that this is an issue that needs to be reformed. I’m not going to take an ignorant position on this as you have on this issue,” Ellmers said.

“So it’s ignorant to follow the rule of law, to believe in an orderly process of immigration and to follow our sovereignty not our emotions?” Ingraham said.

“This is not an emotional issue, this is an issue of the economy and national defense, purely. You’re the one who is putting in the emotional side,” Ellmers said, telling Ingraham to get her “facts straight.”

“I have my facts straight, Congresswoman, believe me. I’ve been working on this issue for about 10 years, and the American people are not with you,” Ingraham said.

Ingraham concluded the still-contentious interview by saying the “heated argument” was a “good one,” and saying she respected that Ellmers joined her.

Later Thursday, Ellmers’s opponent, radio host Frank Roche, tweeted that he would be on Ingraham’s show on Friday.