DHS refuses background checks of Katrina evacuees

DHS refused requests by Alabama officials to conduct background checks on Hurricane Katrina evacuees to keep criminals out of temporary housing facilities, according to e-mails released by congressional investigators. In the e-mails, provided by a special House committee investigating the federal response to the storm, Michael Waters, DHS security adviser for the Birmingham district, said such background checks might be viewed as racist. Many storm victims who lived in shelters were low-income blacks. Report