WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Tom Perez, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, as labor secretary, a cabinet member who will play a key role in the administration's efforts to raise the minimum wage and reform immigration laws.

Perez is the only Latino nominated to Obama's second-term Cabinet so far. The Harvard-educated civil rights attorney is expected to face opposition from some Republican senators, who say he has been too aggressive on certain immigration issues, and too political.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Jeff Mason, Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Bill Trott)