The Trump Justice Department says it has fired more than a dozen employees who worked on criminal investigations into President Donald Trump.

Copyright 2019 CNNWASHINGTON (CNN) - The Justice Department is giving discretion to a top official to decide immigration cases as the administration tries to exert more influence over the nation's immigration courts. A new rule, which goes into effect Monday, gives more power to the director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the agency which oversees the immigration court system. The union representing immigration judges pushed back against the rule, saying the department's action ends transparency and assurance of independent decision making. Immigration advocates see the changes as a way to implement the Trump administration's priorities in the immigration court system. Immigration courts fall under the Justice Department, with Attorney General William Barr able to weigh in on immigration appeals decisions.