Republicans back deporting illegal immigrants as Trump looks for Super Tuesday blowout
By Alexandra Ulmer and Nathan Layne
HUNTINGTON BEACH, California/PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) -Many Republicans voting in U.S. presidential primary elections on Super Tuesday said immigration was their top issue and that immigrants in the country illegally should be deported, a campaign pledge made by Donald Trump.
The former president aimed to vanquish his sole remaining challenger for the Republican nomination, Nikki Haley, on Super Tuesday, the biggest day in the presidential nominating calendar when 15 states and one territory were voting.
The first polls were due to close at 7 p.m. EST (0000 GMT) in Vermont and Virginia, with voting wrapping up in Alaska at midnight EST (0500 on Wednesday GMT).
Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation of immigrants in U.S. history if he defeats Democratic incumbent Joe Biden on Nov. 5.
In three states where voters headed to the polls, 69% of Republican voters in California, 62% in North Carolina and 59% in Virginia backed deporting illegal immigrants, according to exit polls by Edison Research.
In North Carolina, a general election battleground state, a majority of voters polled — 49% — favored a national abortion ban, compared to 45% who oppose one. But a majority of Republican voters in California and Virginia did not favor a ban.
Abortion is an issue that has caused the party problems since a conservative-leaning Supreme Court ended a federal right to the procedure.
Overall, immigration and the economy were cited by Republican voters in the three states as their top concerns, with immigration the top issue for voters in North Carolina and Virginia.
Katherine Meredith (NYSE:MDP), a 65-year-old homemaker, voted for Trump in California's Huntington Beach, which
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