Thread: Tx-Border Patrol seeks a few good women

Border Patrol seeks a few good women
July 12, 2008 - 10:36PM
By Kevin Sieff, The Brownsville Herald
The last of 6,000 National Guardsmen, who have aided in the Border Patrol's effort to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, will leave the border Tuesday, after two years of service. The four border-state governors have tried in vain to persuade Congress and the White House to extend the Guard's presence.



The Border Patrol is looking to fill the void by recruiting 1,600 new agents by the end of the year, which would increase the total number of agents to 18,000. Recruiters are paying special attention to women, who now make up a small fraction of the organization's employees on the Southwest border.



"We want people to know this is not just a profession for males," said Dan Doty, a spokesman for the Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector. Doty added that female agents fill important gaps in the sector.



"Sometimes we do run into problems with violence against women who cross the border illegally," he said. "There are things the women don't tell (male agents) but that they would be comfortable telling a woman."



On June 28, the Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector hosted its first recruitment meeting aimed specifically at women. The meeting, at sector headquarters in Edinburg, drew more than 100 teachers, administrative assistants, police officers and others looking to join the agency.



"We know a lot of these potential agents would feel more comfortable speaking to other women," said Ruben Duran, a Border Patrol recruiter. "We staffed the meeting with current female agents."



The agency is also sending representatives to job fairs organized by Women For Hire, a New York-based company that offers recruiting services for women around the country.



The Border Patrol was founded in 1924, but didn't hire its first female agent until 1975.



As of July 2007, women made up just 5.4 percent of the Border Patrol agent force. The number is meager compared to the FBI, where women comprise 18.5 percent of its agents. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms is 13.3 percent female.



Elizabeth Almanza left her job as a theater arts teacher at Hidalgo High School to join the Border Patrol in 2000. The organization's catchy advertising campaign, she says, was a big draw.



"I always had the career in the back of my mind, ever since I was a kid," Almanza said. "On my 25th birthday I saw a big Border Patrol billboard, and I decided to apply."



Now Almanza goes to recruiting sessions and tells other women about her own experience with the agency.



"For women, it's not a very easy career, but it's doable," she said. "It's a matter of how much you want it."
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articl ... ffort.html

I have a relative that would love to but she is not a citizen. As an immigrant from Canada and having gone through the immigration process while seeing what the illegals were getting away with she cannot wait to get her citizenship and apply. She has also looked into ICE as well. After going to high school with illegals and seeing them at the hospital get free healthcare, she is fed up and wants to do something about it.