President Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, on Monday again dismissed news reports that the administration has forced the deportation of American children of illegal-migrant mothers, saying the moms wanted the children to leave the U.S. with them.

"What we did was remove children with their mothers who requested the children depart with them," Homan said at an early-morning White House press briefing. "This is a parental decision. Parenting 101. The mothers made that choice."

News outlets this weekend reported a story about lawyers for the Honduran-born mothers saying Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers had recently deported the moms and their three children – ages 2, 4 and 7 – who are U.S. citizens.

Homan also said Monday: "They weren't deported. We don't deport our citizens. The parents made that decision, not the United States government."

He made similar comments Sunday on CBS News' Face the Nation.