Place of birth is not the same as origin. Most Jews in the U.S. are of European origin, most Sephardic Jews are of North African origin. Of course, Syrian Jews would be of Middle Eastern origin.
This question occasionally carries importance. There are genetic diseases, syndromes, predispositions to certain diseases and other health-related tendencies that are associated with certain geographical origins. For instance, the Tay-Sachs gene defect is associated with eastern European origins, particularly the Northern Poland-Lithuanian area.
This information can be used to form public health policy, location of screenings, availability of certain special medical equipment or specialties, etc…
A hypothetical example: Suppose a certain origin predisposes to the eye disease called glaucoma, a silent disease. Suppose a certain neighborhood has a large number of people of this origin. It would be a good idea to conduct a glaucoma screening in this neighborhood as a means to identify possible people with this disease.