Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA) criticized the Trump administration for not sending officials to a public hearing on deaths involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, saying administration representatives were unwilling to face the families of men killed by ICE.

Walkinshaw appeared Saturday morning on MS NOW, where "The Weekend" host Eugene Daniels referred to "lying" and "untruths" about how two fatal ICE shootings "went down."

"They're afraid," Walkinshaw said. "They are scared."

Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was killed in Maine on July 13, only days after Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot in Texas, according to reports.

Walkinshaw said he had recently returned from Houston, where Araujo, 52, a construction worker, was killed by ICE. The FBI had falsely accused Araujo of possessing illegal drugs. U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) confirmed Friday that Araujo had electrolytes to help him stay hydrated.

The back-to-back shootings have drawn scrutiny to ICE's use-of-force practices, an issue that has long drawn congressional attention but rarely resulted in public disciplinary outcomes for officers involved in fatal incidents.

The Virginia Democrat said he felt compelled to travel to Houston that same day.

"I wanted to... be able to look into their eyes and see and feel that that pain that they're experiencing," Walkinshaw said. "And bring it back with me to Washington and try to communicate it to my colleagues, especially our Republican colleagues."

Walkinshaw argued that Republicans were instead choosing to "pour salt in the wounds" of families whose loved ones had died in ICE's hands. He pointed to Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two American citizens shot dead in protests, as examples.

"It is disgusting what this administration is doing to families like this," he said. "It's character assassination."

Walkinshaw also discussed information from a closed-door briefing he held with ICE officials last week. He said data showed that, out of 22,000 ICE officers, only one had faced disciplinary action.

"There is no accountability in ICE right now," he said. "And it comes from the very top. In the Oval Office."

Walkinshaw said he was outraged that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI "flat out refused" to send a representative to Friday's public hearing, which was convened as part of Congress's oversight authority over federal agencies.

He argued that officials did not have the courage to face the children of the men killed by ICE agents.

"They are afraid to to face communities like the community in Houston," Walkinshaw said. "After what has happened, I don't think they want to have to look Lorenzo and Ronaldo in the eye and see what they have done."