How to Find and Use People Over Papers

If you searched “Padlet People Over Papers,” you’re probably looking for a crowdsourced map that tracks reported ICE activity, and you may have noticed the old Padlet link doesn’t work the way it used to. Here’s the short version: the project moved. This guide covers where it lives now, how to use it, and what to know about its reliability and the controversy surrounding it.

What People Over Papers Actually Do

People Over Papers started in early 2025 as a Padlet board where community members could drop pins showing where they’d spotted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity. It grew fast, reportedly drawing millions of visitors and hundreds of thousands of daily users at its peak. The idea was simple: let people report what they’re seeing, and let others in the area check the map before they head out.

The tool is not run by, or affiliated with, any government agency. It’s built and moderated by volunteers, and more recently it’s operated under a registered nonprofit called the Pueblo Project Foundation.

Why the Padlet Link Stopped Working

In October 2025, Padlet removed the People Over Papers board, telling the project’s creators it had been “trashed due to violations” of Padlet’s content policy, without specifying which policy. The takedown came shortly after Apple pulled a similar ICE-tracking app, ICEBlock, following public pressure from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who argued that apps alerting the public to ICE activity put agents at risk. One of the project’s organizers, who goes by Celeste and has kept her last name private for safety reasons, said the team had anticipated something like this happening and had already been building an independent site.

So if you’re clicking an old padlet.com link and it dead-ends, that’s why: Padlet’s hosting is no longer part of the picture.

Where to Find It Now

The project relaunched at iceout.org within days of the Padlet takedown. The old Padlet-hosted domain was rerouted to point to the new site. As of this writing, iceout.org is live and continues to operate independently, which gives the team more control over features like location-based push notifications than they had on Padlet.

A few practical notes if you’re trying to access it:

Use iceout.org directly rather than searching for old Padlet links, which may be outdated, dead, or in some cases spoofed by unrelated accounts.
The site is available in English and Spanish.
Because it’s a fast-moving, high-traffic project, expect occasional slowdowns during surges in activity.

How to Use the Map

Go to iceout.org. The homepage loads an interactive map centered on your general region (you can also search or scroll to a different area).
View existing reports. Pins show recent submissions. The platform separates “confirmed” reports, which come through trusted partners such as rapid response networks and nonprofits, from “non-confirmed” reports submitted directly by the public.
Submit a report if you’ve seen something. You’ll typically be asked for a location, a rough time, and a short description. No compensation is offered or accepted for submissions, and being listed on the map doesn’t imply the project endorses or verifies every detail.
Set up alerts (if available in your area). One advantage of running its own site is that the project has been rolling out radius-based notifications, so users can get pinged about activity near a location they choose, rather than needing to keep the map open constantly.
Cross-check before acting. Every report involves someone’s interpretation of what they saw. Treat a single pin as a lead, not a confirmed fact, especially if it’s several hours old.

A Few Reliability and Safety Notes

Because this is a public, crowdsourced tool, a little caution goes a long way:

Check timestamps. A report from six hours ago tells you very little about what’s happening right now.
Don’t treat one pin as certainty. Look for corroborating reports, or check with a local rapid response network, before changing your plans based on a single submission.
Don’t use the map to confront or follow anyone. The project’s stated guidelines explicitly say it doesn’t condone harassment, confrontation, or invasion of privacy, and following that guidance also keeps you safer.
Share responsibly. If you repost a screenshot or a pin elsewhere, stick to factual, non-identifying details rather than speculation.

The Controversy, Briefly

It’s worth understanding that this isn’t an uncontested tool, since that context shapes how you should treat what you see on it.

Supporters, including the project’s creators and immigrant-rights groups, describe it as a lawful exercise of free speech and community self-protection, similar in spirit to other public “know your rights” and cop-watching efforts that courts have generally upheld. Celeste has said the project doesn’t condone violence and exists to inform, not to interfere with law enforcement.

Critics take a harder line. Attorney General Bondi’s office argued that apps like this put federal agents at risk simply for doing their jobs. Some commentators and advocacy-watchdog groups have gone further, arguing that a real-time map of enforcement activity could shield people with serious criminal records along with everyone else, and have called for scrutiny of the nonprofit funding behind it. Neither position has been resolved in court as of this writing, so treat claims from either side as contested rather than settled.