Dem Rep. Tom Malinowski: We need illegal immigrants to 'mow our beautiful lawns'

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Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., defended the presence of both legal and illegal immigrants on Tuesday, asking his constituents: "Who do you think is mowing our beautiful lawns?"

"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 said in a video obtained by the Washington Examiner.

Malinowski, the freshman Democrat who is now running for reelection in New Jersey's seventh district, began citing statics showing the major role migrants play in the workforce.

“Who do you think is taking care of our seniors? Fifty percent of the elderly care workers in the state of New Jersey are immigrants, most of them legal, most of them documented. And there's certainly some who are not," the congressman told the crowd. "Who do you think is mowing our beautiful lawns in Somerset County? We don’t usually ask, but a lot of those workers are undocumented.”

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After one attendee mentioned that he works at a children's coding training program called "Code Ninjas," Malinowski joked that they were a "bunch of elitists" who aren't "going to mow lawns."

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Malinowski represents a swing district previously held by the GOP. He is also one of more than 120 House Democrats who support impeachment proceedings against President Trump.