EL PASO, Mexico -- The Border Patrol in an unprecedented move to meet a critical need to hire more women has a job listing for new agents "restricted to female applicants."
Currently 95 percent of all agents working along the Southwest border are men.
"And we want to change that," said Yesenia Leon, a Border Patrol Agent in the El Paso Sector.
"We want females in our agency and I hope a lot of females apply," said Leon.
She joined the force five years ago. "Honestly I never thought I would apply for the position but after serving in the military I decided I wanted to keep serving my country," said Leon.
Since she joined five years ago, border enforcement has changed a lot. There's a fence, more technology, a lot more manpower. But the majority of agents in the field are still men.
This summer the Border Patrol urgently needed more female agents when thousands of women and children from Central America crossed the border.
"We'd like to have more women in our border patrol stations to be able to meet that demand," said Marcela Benson, a Border Patrol Agent in the El Paso sector.
"We'd like to have the opportunity for a woman to pat down another woman should the need arise," said Benson.
The need is growing. Since 2011 the number of undocumented women apprehended at the border has brown by 173 percent.
The job description lists "many vacancies" in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. The salary range is from $39,000 to $44,000.
Of course female recruits must meet the same standards as men including passing a physical exam, background check, and several tests including one to determine whether they have the ability to learn a foreign language.
Spanish is mandatory for all agents along the southwest border. The job opportunity for women opened December 1 and ends December 10th.
Benson joined the Border Patrol in 2007 during a massive buildup of the force and now hopes the new effort to recruit female agents will encourage more women to apply.
"Women don't know the opportunities that are available to them and having this open, it opens their eyes," said Benson.
