Jesse Jackson brings Katrina evacuees home

CHICAGO, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- A bus caravan organized by Jesse Jackson left Chicago Monday to bring some Hurricane Katrina evacuees back to New Orleans.

At a stop in St. Louis, Jackson said that those displaced by the hurricane should have first claim on reconstruction contracts and on jobs rebuilding the shattered Gulf Coast around New Orleans, Biloxi and Mobile, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

"Just as there was no mass plan for rescue and there was a botched plan of radical dislocation, there's no plan to return those who have been dispersed around the country," Jackson said.

The caravan was expected to arrive Monday evening in Memphis, Tenn., and to reach New Orleans on Tuesday after a stop in Mobile.