by William Lajeunesse

A mandate to hire 6,000 new border agents by the end of 2008 has lowered qualification tests, concentrated four months of training into 10 weeks and is raising concerns that recruits won't get the proper training they need to protect the borders.

Richard Pierce, executive vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union that represents 11,000 rank-and-file agents, said the guidelines don't allow time for proper training of new agents.

“The field training program is largely computer-based ... it’s not the hands-on approach this job requires,â€