MEXICO CITY — The former head of Mexico’s immigration agency apologized Friday to victims and families affected by a fire at a Ciudad Juarez detention center that killed 40 migrants.

Francisco Garduño, who remained in his position as head of the National Immigration Institute until April, was ordered by a judge to make the public apology, among other steps, during a temporary suspension in his prosecution for failing in his responsibility to protect those in his custody.

There were “human rights violations that never should have happened” due to “omissions by personnel of the (National Immigration Institute),” Garduño said at an event in Mexico City.

He called for “those responsible” to be punished and for reparations to be made without recognizing his own responsibility in the tragedy.

In addition to the 40 killed, more than two dozen people were injured. Most of the victims were from Central America and Venezuela.

Two Venezuelan migrants have been charged with homicide for starting the fire.

Dozens of victims’ relatives were present, including some who wept when their loved one’s names were read, along with representatives of the immigration agency and the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Two migrants allegedly started a fire on March 27, 2023, inside the Ciudad Juarez detention center to protest conditions. Security cameras inside the facility showed smoke quickly filling the cell holding several dozen male migrants, but no one with keys attempted to release them.

In January, the judge in Garduño’s case gave him 18 months to take several steps that could lead to the closure of his case. Several of his subordinates face charges including homicide.

Lawyers representing the victims and their families, worried Garduño will escape prison time, have challenged the suspension of his trial but accepted the idea of a public apology because it was the first time they would face the former official in person.

On Friday, some victims and relatives were allowed to address Garduño.

Claudia Araceli Varela, a relative of one of the victims from El Salvador, said she wanted those responsible held accountable, not pardoned. She told Garduño his apology was “forced” and chastised him for not using his authority to order the cell door opened when the fire started.

“I feel angry, rage, they’re making him do it, he doesn’t do it from his heart, so it’s not worth it,” said Wilson Alexander Juárez, a 23-year-old Guatemalan scarred by burns on his body, who watched from the front row while gripping a walker.

Juárez wanted to be present because it was the first time he saw Garduño up close, he said.

“He’s never showed his face,” Juárez said.

Marcos Zavala, a lawyer with the Foundation for Justice, one of the organizations representing the victims, said Garduño’s public apology “doesn’t end anything.”

Prior to taking over the National Immigration Institute, Garduño had run Mexico’s prison system. When U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on imports unless Mexico did more to control migration, then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador put Garduño in charge.

One of Garduño’s subordinates facing charges remains on the run, while other low-level agents and a security guard await trial.

The immigration agency said it made changes to improve safety and closed some facilities, but immigrant advocates say the changes do not ensure something similar won’t happen again.