ABOARD ICE MISSION 9058 -- As the Boeing 727 taxied in darkness toward the runway, the flight attendant went through her pre-takeoff routine: Fasten seat belts. Locate emergency exits. No smoking.

Once airborne, most of the 110 passengers sat quietly, stared out the window or slept during the 2 ½-hour flight to Honduras.

María Santos Deras could barely contain her excitement.

''I've never been on an airplane,'' she said. ``It's my first time.''

But this was no ordinary flight. Deras and her fellow passengers were undocumented immigrants being deported to their home country, one of about six daily removal flights operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. An average of 600 illegal immigrants are removed every day.

''There has been an increase in the number of aliens taken into custody,'' said Michael Pitts, chief of ICE's flight operations unit. ``As a result of having more aliens within U.S. custody, there are more flights that are now needed to remove those aliens from the United States.''

The stepped-up immigration enforcement is reflected in the latest ICE statistics. From Sept. 30, 2007 to Oct. 1 of this year, at least 349,041 foreign nationals were deported -- a 20 percent increase over the previous 12-month period. Of that total, at least 12,753 were removed from Florida -- 3,648 more than during the previous 12-month period.

The ICE-leased plane carrying 94 men and 16 women Oct. 20 was one of the daily flights to Honduras and other Latin American countries operated by Pitts' unit in Kansas City -- a veritable ''airline'' on which passengers get a one-way ticket home.

ROUNDED UP

Hondurans aboard ICE Mission 9058 included immigrants caught either by the Border Patrol, immigration officers in search of deportation-order fugitives or police officers during routine traffic stops in cities and towns far from the border.

Deportees boarded the flight before sunrise after arriving at San Antonio International Airport aboard buses driven by guards. Before boarding, as the plane sat on the tarmac, federal officers patted down passengers and carefully checked their shoes for weapons.

Aboard the plane, deportees resembled regular passengers. All wore civilian clothes and none was handcuffed or shackled.

But the aisle was full of standing officers ready to prevent any disruptions.

The aircraft was airborne at 6:29 a.m. At cruising altitude, the crew served bologna sandwiches. The deportees ate, largely in silence. There was no in-flight movie.

Among the passengers: Paulino Castro, 32, who was detained on a road in Wisconsin when a police officer pulled him over for a faulty taillight.

When the officer ran Castro's name through a database, he discovered that ICE considered Castro a fugitive. ICE records show Castro failed to show up in immigration court, was ordered deported by an immigration judge and evaded the removal order.

Castro told of his journey through the American legal system and how he was removed from the country of his dreams. He said that soon after he sneaked into the United States through Eagle Pass, Texas, Border Patrol agents caught him. But Castro was released after promising to appear in court.

He never did.

Castro headed to North Carolina, staying for a few months in Charlotte. Then he went to Kansas City to spend Christmas with a relative and to Vancouver to build boats.

He also visited Jacksonville before arriving in Wisconsin, where he was arrested and turned over to ICE.

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