The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is pushing back against the media’s mischaracterization of his agency’s handling of illegal children, claiming they get better medical care and food than many American kids.

Outgoing Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan rejected nationally televised reports that his agents are “separating” parents from children without cause and sticking the kids in shoddy holding centers.

[Related: Trump, Democrats fight over blame for family separation at the southwest border]

“These families that are in here illegally, are in these [family residential centers], we have medical on site, we have a psychologist on site, we have education on site, and you know they have access to unlimited amount of foods,” said Homan.

“How many U.S. citizen children in this country don’t have unlimited access to fruits and vegetables, milk, juice, medical care, dental care?” he added at a roundtable hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies.

“There are a lot of U.S. citizen children who don’t get that type of care, but we are providing that care to great taxpayer expense to these families,” added Homan.

Homan’s agency has been accused in the media of unfairly ripping children from their parents, a charge he rejected.

He explained that once families arrive at the border, Customs and Border Patrol decides if the parents tried to enter illegally or if they have other criminal charges. If they do, their children are then ordered held at a Health and Human Services facility and it is ICE that does the transportation.

Homan said they get the same treatment as American families when parents are charged with a crime.

“I was a police officer in New York, that’s where I started my law enforcement career. Children and parents get separated everyday across this country when a parent is charged with a criminal offense,” said Homan. “It’s sad to see the children crying when you take a parent out of the home. But because it’s sad it doesn’t mean we don’t enforce the law,” he said, adding that the focus should be on the alleged crimes of the parent.

“It isn’t separating these children just for the sake of separating them, you are prosecuting a parent and even American citizens get separated when you prosecute a parent,” said the long-time immigration official.