The article draws on the recent regularisation to illustrate the importance of ethnic networks in insertion processes of immigrant workers. It is claimed that the importance of migratory networks is exalted by the reluctance of public policies for immigration management and by trends in the contemporary labour market. From this consideration, forms of «ethnic specialisation» are derived, which should not always be interpreted negatively as the alternative would be even more serious forms of social exclusion of immigrant workers. Finally, it illustrates network construction and ethical identification phenomena as the outcome of social construction processes in which endogenous dynamics of immigrant populations come up against stereotypes and prejudices of the host society, producing reciprocal reinforcement effects.only subscribers can see the full article