What does Trump's new Denaturalisation Section do?

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced this week that it has opened a division dedicated to denaturalisation - the process of revoking US citizenship from someone who was not born in the country.

More than 20 million US citizens are naturalised, and there has been confusion over how the newly created "Denaturalisation Section" could affect foreign-born American citizens.

Stripping citizenship remains rare occurrence, and the department has emphasised the new team will target serious criminals.

But critics have expressed concerns over the rise in denaturalisation cases brought by the Trump administration. According to the Open Society Justice Initiative , the average civil denaturalisation filing rate for the last eight presidencies was 12 per year - under President Donald Trump, that has risen to nearly 30 per year.

Should naturalised citizens be worried about the DOJ's denaturalisation efforts?

What will the 'Denaturalisation Section' do?

According to the DOJ , the newly minted Denaturalisation Section will investigate and argue cases.

The department says the section was created due to an anticipated increase in the number of denaturalisation referrals from law enforcement agencies.

The team will target terrorists, war criminals, sex offenders, and "other fraudsters", the DOJ said.

Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt said allowing these criminals to unlawfully remain citizens "is an affront to our system".

The division will target people suspected of unlawfully obtaining citizenship and "ensure that they are held accountable for their fraudulent conduct," Mr Hunt said.

Immigration lawyer Allen Orr told the BBC this was already being handled within the DOJ before. This new section is mostly for optics, in Mr Orr's view.

Is there precedent for this?

Denaturalisation certainly precedes the Trump administration.

The US government has revoked citizenship many times from the 20th century onwards for various reasons, according to Patrick Weil, a visiting professor at Yale University Law School.