During his life, Scalabrini developed many pastoral activities. His personal trademark was the zeal for migrant people. However, his sensibility towards the suffering of migrant families can not be considered apart of his concern to the poorest ones. Scalabrini pastoral works in Italy are well known for their focus on the prisoners, sick and deaf people.
To Scalabrini, Church should intervene next to the State and political groups on behalf of the interests of the poor. In his 1882 Pastoral Letter to the Piacenza Diocese, he said it was "necessary to take part in public life and make use of its entire means to the triumph of truth and justice".

Scalabrini was always open-minded to emerging social issues. This was what brought him near to migrants suffering and also put him on move. Nowadays, we follow what Scalabrini affirmed in his 1891 Pastoral Letter: "We must get out of the temple if we want to perform salutary acts inside there!"

His sensibility toward migrant causes was awakened in 1880 in the Milan Train Station. There he met poor migrants in dramatic life conditions who were waiting for the train to Genoa, the departure point to the Americas. The Bishop of Piacenza describes them: "In tears, they had said their homeland goodbye, a place they were attached by so many pleasant remembrances. With no yearning they decided to leave their motherland since they only knew her by two hatred ways: the military enlistment and the taxman. For the deserted ones, motherland is the place that gives people bread. Out there, far, faraway, they hoped to find bread in a less scarce and hard way".

Searching appropriate answers to the migrant pain, the Well Adventured Scalabrini interventions were diversely featured: he organized publications; proposed changes in the Italian Emigration Law; founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles in 1887. The St. Raphael Society, a lay association serving migrant people, and Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo in 1895; Scalabrini also incorporated as part of the diocese the Apostolic Sisters of the Sacred Heart and sent them to work next to the Italian emigrants in the South of Brazil in 1900.

In order to know the life conditions of Italian immigrants, Scalabrini traveled to the United States, Brazil and Argentina between 1901 and 1904. Even in his 62 years old and ill, he insisted on going everywhere there was an Italian immigrant community experiencing current difficulties. His effort made the immigrants stronger and also consolidated the initiated works of the Fathers and the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles.

In 1901, on a letter addressed to Pope Leo XIII we found an evaluation of his work. In the text, Dom Scalabrini spoke of his motivations and hope: "If I look over the work that had been done among a few difficulties, I have great reasons to take joy with the Lord. But, if in my thoughts I go deep inside my soul, I see nothing but regret for everything I had not done. At least one thing I can assure you, Blessed Father: in all circumstances, I ever had a goal but the Glory of God and the salvation of the souls trusted me".

His prophetism, his charity, his love for the migrant people and his thoughts give us an example of a sanctified bishop and a model to follow. Scalabrini passed away on 1st June of 1905. He was beatified Father of the Migrants by Pope John Paul II on November 9, 1997.