Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is defending comments he made that the families of child migrants "give their daughters birth control pills and send them down a rape path all the way through Mexico" because White House policies had created a "huge magnet" for migrants.

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King was criticized when he made the comments in July, as the Congress was grappling with the unprecedented influx of unaccompanied child migrants coming over the southern border. On Tuesday, he didn't back down from his remarks.

"I would say to the families that were upset about what I had to say about their vulnerability to rape: What I delivered is what I learned down there from caregivers, and we should be upset — all of us should be upset — about a circumstance where families would send their daughters up with a 30 to 70 percent chance of being sexually abused on the way," he said while appearing on CNN.

"That's appalling for me. I can't imagine doing that with, say, one of my granddaughters."

He also said that a House bill passed in August aimed at enhancing border security could be approved by the Senate during the lame-duck session. The bill was passed in response to the child migrant surge. Those children are held by a division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

King said the bill would help families.

"It sends people back instead of putting them in the custody of HHS," he said.

"We cannot have an open borders policy. We'll empty out Central America, and then the United States is going to be buried under the burden of the social services that we so willingly provide," he added.

Even as some Republicans have looked for a way to compromise on immigration reform, King has consistently provided a conservative opposition to immigration reform that would halt deportations.

He has also aggressively opposed an expected executive order on immigration. Last week, he said that the president would create a "constitutional crisis" by signing an order.

The White House is expected to release details on the order soon. It is widely believe that it will stop deportation and offer a form of legal status to many immigrants in the country illegally.