Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski, who is running for a second term in New Jersey’s swing 7th District, told constituents this week that illegal immigrants are needed to mow “our beautiful lawns” and perform menial jobs rejected by tech-focused teenagers.

“There are a lot of jobs in our community, that like it or not, for better or for worse, Americans are not willing to take,” Malinowski told constituents at a “coffee with your congressman" event held Tuesday at Cafe Brio in Hillsborough, a wealthy New Jersey suburb.

Malinowski cited the large number of immigrants serving as health aides to senior citizens as well as the many illegal immigrants hired to perform yard work.

“Who do you think is taking care of our seniors?" Malinowski told the crowd.

"Who do you think is mowing our beautiful lawns in Somerset County?" Malinowski continued. "We don’t usually ask, but a lot of those workers are undocumented. There are just not a lot of kids who, sorry, from Montgomery High, who are going to be doing that full time. You guys are going into robotics, for goodness' sake.”

A person in the audience told Malinowski he works at Code Ninjas, a company that teaches coding to children.

“You work at Code Ninjas — exactly,” Malinowski responded. “You’re a bunch of elitists! You’re not going to mow lawns.”

Democrats have been embroiled in a battle with President Trump over how to respond to the massive surge of illegal immigrants along the southern border. Democrats generally favor allowing the migrants to enter the United States to apply for asylum, even though many remain here after their claims are rejected in court.

Malinowski, a former State Department official, won in 2018 by beating Republican incumbent Rep. Leonard Lance. His race is listed as “lean Democrat” by the nonpartisan Cook Political report, signaling it is a competitive race.

Three GOP candidates so far are vying for the chance to challenge Malinowski on the ballot in 2020.

The 7th District has a long history of sending mostly Republican lawmakers to Congress, dating back to 1914, but Democrats managed to flip it in the 2018 midterm election.

Malinowski was the first swing-district Democrat to back impeaching Trump.