Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., told local residents during a reelection campaign stop this week that the United States needs illegal immigrants to mow “our beautiful lawns” because those are jobs “Americans are not willing to take.”

“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, who is seeking a second term, said at a “coffee with your congressman” event on Tuesday at Cafe Brio, a restaurant in the wealthy New Jersey suburb of Hillsborough.

Video of Malinowski’s speech was obtained by the Washington Examiner.

The congressman, 53, was speaking to a group of technology-focused teenagers, noting that many would not be doing general-labor work.

“Who do you think is taking care of our seniors?” Malinowski asked.

“Who do you think is mowing our beautiful lawns in Somerset County?” he posed. “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.”

One constituent then told Malinowski that he works at Code Ninjas, a Texas-based franchisor that teaches children to code.

“You work at Code Ninjas. Exactly,” the representative said. “You’re a bunch of elitists! You’re not going to mow lawns.”

Malinowski, who worked in the Obama State Department, defeated longtime Republican Rep. Leonard Lance last fall — and he is so far facing three GOP challengers in his reelection bid.

His district — New Jersey’s 7th — has mostly elected Republicans to Congress since 1914.

In January, Malinowski was the first swing-district Democrat to support impeaching President Donald Trump, but then voted to table the resolution on the House floor in July.