Passing by the Dolphin Police Station this afternoon, I glanced inside and saw a whole lineup of Immigration vehicles parked out front. Word is they’d just wrapped up a meeting inside, and officers in uniform were marching in and out looking dead serious. Anyone who’s been here long enough knows what that means—chances are, the streets are going to see a round of checks in the next few days.
Business owners and street vendors who know each other around here are already passing the word along. Some have fished out their documents just to shove them back into their pockets, while others are pulling their metal shutters halfway down. Running a small business here is hard enough as it is; everyone just wants to open up and close down safely every day. When word gets out that things are tightening up, you just have to keep your head down and be extra careful.
The old-timers in the neighborhood say these meetings are usually the canary in the coal mine before an operation. Motorbike exhaust still hangs in the air at the junction and the streets look just as busy as usual, but you can feel the tension in the atmosphere. Making a living out here means reading the room is a basic survival skill, so people are playing it low-key for now.
