Faced with tens of thousands of parents and children crossing the Southwest border last year, the U.S. Border Patrol pledged to hire up to 1,600 women. Female migrants, many of whom are sexually assaulted on their journey, often prefer to be searched by women and would be more likely to share information about smugglers with an agent of their own sex. The Border Patrol, whose ranks have long been dominated by men, embarked on its first-ever female recruitment spree, getting rare dispensation to target only women. The deadline for the effort was the end of the fiscal year last week. It netted just 50 women.