NSW Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi says she was racially profiled at Los Angeles International Airport after she was detained and interrogated by immigration officials before being permitted to enter the country.

Dr Faruqi, who was travelling to the United States on a self-funded trip to investigate drug law reform, said she and her husband were passing through immigration control at LAX when they were stopped as they handed over their passports on Friday morning (Australian time).

NSW Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi has introduced a private member's bill to decriminalise abortion. Credit:Ben Rushton

"[M]y husband and I were questioned about how 'we got' our Aussie passports, then sent off to the interview room and interrogated separately about why we were in the US and my links to Pakistan," Dr Faruqi said via a statement.

Dr Faruqi, who was born in Pakistan but migrated to Australia in 1992 with her young family, said she and her husband were forced to hand over further identification in an incident she has criticised as "racial profiling".