LAS VEGAS -- The day before Republicans took charge of the U.S. Senate and strengthened their hold in the House of Representatives, a pair of journalists discussed the immigration reform inaction that has been part of the U.S. political scene for the past generation.

If the two debaters are accurate, the shift in power will not have a major impact on comprehensive immigration reform, at least in the short run.

Speaking at the Western Growers Political Action Committee luncheon during the WGA's 89th annual meeting, here, Michelle Malkin and Ruben Navarrette mostly articulated just how far apart the two sides are in the debate.

Malkin, who has been a Fox News commentator, and syndicated columnist Navarrette agreed that immigration reform is a very tough rode to hoe.

Malkin, mirroring the comments often heard by the far right, rejected the idea that there is a need for immigrants to work in such industries as agriculture or foodservice. She advocated for hiring U.S. citizens to do those jobs and said it is low wages creating the labor shortage.

"The reason we don't have workers is because we don't pay enough," she said and then repeated hat idea several times.

She added that the problem with a temporary guest worker program "is the 'temporary' and 'guest' part of it." It is Malkin's belief that any such program will result in more workers coming into the United States and staying.

It is for this same reason that she opposes any path to citizenship for falsely documented workers. She wants all foreigners seeking entry into the United States to go through proper channels and not be rewarded for illegally coming to the United States no matter how long ago that event occurred.

Malkin also took aim at the debaters that claim to want to secure the borders first and the tackle immigration reform. She argues that there should be no "first" and then "second" approach, instead believing that securing the border is an ongoing obligation that should not be followed by any program that gives priority status to any group of people wanting to come to the United States.

She claims to have many relatives from the Philippines that have been waiting in line for years to secure the right to move to the United States. She wants everyone else to get in the same line.

Navarrette took a much more practical view. He believes there are millions of falsely documented workers in the United States for the simple reason that U.S. employers need them. He said U.S. workers will not take those jobs and rejected the use of the word "invasion" to characterize the flow of hard workers looking for a better life in the United States.

He believes there should be a path to legalization for the 11 million or more workers who are already here earning a living, taking part in their communities and are otherwise law abiding.

Navarrette takes exception to anti-immigration types that point to their foreign backgrounds and claim their forefathers stood in line and came here legally generations ago. He said most of these people are talking about a time when there was no line and it was not illegal to immigrate to the United States. As a case in point, he said his ancestors came from Mexico legally several generations ago because that is the only way you could come here.

Navarrette did commend Malkin on her willingness to not pull any punches on the issue. He said one of the biggest stumbling blocks to comprehensive immigration reform are the politicos who are claiming to want to secure the borders first and then will vote for reform.

Completely securing the borders, Navarrette said, is an impossibility but the pursuit of it can give the anti-immigration reform forces cover for their lack of movement on the issue.

WGA President Tom Nassif, who moderated the question-and-answer session, did rebuke Malkin's assertion that the reason agriculture does not have enough workers is because of low pay. He said there were many employers in the room who could testify first hand about experiences when they were offering $30 or more per hour and still couldn't fill their harvesting crews.