I’ve always been afraid of Juarez.
I think that Juarez has always been dangerous during it’s entire history, people that went there not aware of that were being ignorant.
For me it was a place to find the element of danger that I used to crave if you went back into the communities and tried to date the local girls (non-professional), but now it just sounds like it is crazy to even visit it.
Even 50 years ago, part of the attraction of Mexico was the (slight) element of danger and unpredictability, but now that “element” is more like an actual war zone.