Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said Friday that blaming ICE for the recent deaths of two children in its custody is “wrong” and that having “only two children” die in recent memory is an “excellent record.”

Calling the deaths “tragic,” King quickly tried to shift the blame away from the agency by saying that children also die in the “terrible conditions” of government housing in his own state.

“I know in New York City in housing projects you hear of kids dying, unfortunately that can happen when people are living in those conditions,” King told Fox News’ Julia Banderas. “I applaud the Secretary for going to see if there’s anything more that can be done but I think it’s wrong to be piling on here and somehow blaming ICE.”

“They’ve had hundreds of thousands of people that they had custody of over the years and I think these are the only two children that have died in recent memory,” he continued. “Considering what does happen in housing projects across the country, I think ICE has an excellent record.”

Banderas agreed with King, saying that his assessment is “correct” and that people were quick to make ICE a scapegoat.

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