WRONG!
France gifted the Statue of Liberty to the United States to commemorate the friendship between the two nations and to celebrate the principles of freedom and democracy, particularly in honor of the U.S. centennial and the abolition of slavery. The statue symbolizes liberty and serves as a reminder of the shared values between France and the U.S.
It only became a “symbol” for or of immigration…
(naturally, since the first thing LEGAL immigrants saw as the ships entered America and the Port of NY was the statue)
…after Emma Lazarus’ poem was used to solicit the money to build the pedestal upon which she stands.
It was mounted on the pedestal in 1903.