In this article, we analyse the situation and the problems related to the presence of foreigners in Italian prisons, starting with a brief description of the status quaestionis, then crossing the overview of the legal standards on national and international level, then moving on to sociological analysis about the living conditions that characterize these particular prison communities. These inmates live a particularly difficult condition, due to factors such as cultural and linguistic diversity, different habits, religion, lack of family ties and contacts with the outside world, which constitute contingent, structural and management barriers of prison life often insurmountable.