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Happy Tuesday morning.

The White House has a problem with Democrats on immigration. And it’s only going to get worse.

On Monday, Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.), chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, became the latest Democrat to break with the Biden administration over its decision to end the use of Title 42 authority to deny asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border by next month.

Peters joins a growing list of Senate Democrats – we’re up to nine now – who have publicly expressed opposition to the administration’s position on Title 42, at least until a more concrete plan to deal with an expected migrant surge at the border.

“Unless we have a well-thought-out plan, I think it is something that should be revisited and perhaps delayed. I’m going to defer judgment on that until I give the administration the opportunity to fully articulate what that plan is. But I share … concerns of some of my colleagues,” Peters told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday, according to Jordain Carney of the Hill.

And our friends Burgess Everett and Holly Otterbein at Politico reported that several high-profile Democratic Senate candidates, including John Fetterman in Pennsylvania and Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin, have called for the White House to rethink its decision as well.

The pandemic-era policy was put in place originally by the Trump administration in March 2020. Under the Title 42 process, Customs and Border Protection can expel migrants without asylum screening. The Biden administration plans to rescind the order May 23. More than 1.7 million migrants have been expelled under Title 42 during the last 25 months.

Moderate Democrats – and those seeking reelection this year – are deeply concerned that rescinding the Title 42 order will lead to a surge in migrants crossing the border, dominating the news and handing Republicans a cudgel in the critical months before the midterm elections. .

The group of Democratic critics on this issue includes Sens. Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.), all of whom face voters in November.

Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) don’t face voters again until 2024. But they joined with Republicans, led by Sen. James Lankford (Okla.), to call for a delay in ending the pandemic-era policy. Kelly and Hassan, who separately visited the border last week, are also cosponsors of that bill.

And then there are Democratic senators such as Peters and Sen. Chris Coons (Del.), probably the closest Biden ally in the Senate, who have delicately criticized the administration’s handling of the situation.

“In the region where I’m from, we’re seeing infections rise. I think Philadelphia, for example, just returned to a mask mandate. So my hope is that that will be reconsidered appropriately,” Coons said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday.

Yet a number of top Senate Democrats, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Foreign Relations Committee Chair Robert Menendez (N.J.), and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), have all demanded the Biden administration stop the use of the Title 42 authority. Pro-immigration groups also strongly backed the decision as well. So there’s a real split in the Senate Democratic Caucus, which Republicans will exploit.

Now here’s where this becomes even more tricky. The issue of ending the use of Title 42 authority helped derail passage of a $10 billion Covid prep bill before the Senate adjourned for its Easter recess. Schumer and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) announced they had a deal on the legislation, only to see Democrats postpone action over fears that a Title 42-related amendment could pass. Political developments during the last two weeks haven’t done anything to dampen down that possibility. In fact, it’s probably worse for Democrats.

“It’s one of the many things waiting for us when we get back,” one Democratic aide told us.

One question to ponder is how does the Biden administration back away from repealing Title 42? Is there a face-saving measure?

By the way, one point both Republican and Democratic critics have made often is asking how the Biden administration can use the “ongoing public health emergency” to enforce a mask mandate on public transportation while effectively declaring the pandemic over when deciding to rescind Title 42. Well, that changed on Monday when a federal judge in Florida – appointed by former President Donald Trump – struck down the mask mandate for airplanes and other public transportation.

The Biden administration signaled it wouldn’t move to immediately appeal the decision, with an official saying TSA wouldn’t enforce the mandate while they were “assessing potential next steps.” All major airlines, Amtrak and WMATA quickly moved to lift the mask mandate Monday following the judge’s ruling, although transit agencies in New York and California left the requirement in place.