GUATEMALA CITY — Outside a low, white stucco building operated by the Guatemalan Air Force, a few people wait for “el vuelo de los deportados” — the flight of the deportees. Each plane that lands brings 75 to 130 Guatemalans, in handcuffs, back to their home country after being deported from the U.S.

Since the end of 2017, the number of flights have been increasing, according to Carlos López, administrator of the migrant aid organization Casa del Migrante, based in Guatemala City.

"In recent months, there have been two or three flights every day," López said recently as he waited for a plane to land.

In January, nearly 1,000 more Guatemalans were deported by air than in the same month last year, at the end of the Obama administration, Guatemalan government statistics confirm.

When they land — handcuffs removed — the returned Guatemalans are ushered into a waiting area lined with plastic chairs where they find sandwiches and bottles of water. A government employee offers a few words of welcome and directs them to windows where their data will be recorded.

The deportees then exit double glass doors and take their first steps toward trying to rebuild their lives in this country of 14 million. For many, this won’t be easy.

Hicer Hernando, 23, of the province of Izabal, told NBC News that he decided to leave home after his father was killed in a machete attack motivated by religious differences with other townspeople. “Because we are Catholics, and they are Evangelical Christians … ” Hernando said. “They were going to kill me, too.”