“How did you get those guys to vote for you … how did you convince them to put you in charge?

“I think you won your last election at 64 percent of the vote … so you’re incredibly popular in Boston, and they trust you to run the city. How did you convince these Boston people?”

“I still don’t understand how you got elected. I mean, obviously you’re good at your job and your charming and all that, but that was enough for them to convince them?”

“If you can become the mayor of Boston, maybe you know one of arguably the most racist cities in America, then maybe there is hope for everyone yet.”

Ooof.

Wu handled herself deftly, but there were moments Tuesday night when she looked more comfortable sitting in front of a hostile, Republican-led Congressional hearing in Washington than responding to Chieng’s attempt at humor.

“You might be surprised by Boston. Next time you come, we’ll have to take you around a little more,” Wu said. “We’re an incredibly diverse, welcoming, beautiful city … we are majority people of color, we’re 28 percent people born from another country. Boston is a place where people have always come for almost 400 years to make good in the world.”

I usually love Chieng, a Malaysia-born comedian who spent part of his childhood in Manchester, N.H. He invited Wu on because he wants to highlight Asian American leaders and Democrats who are trying to figure out how to stand up to the Trump administration. It was clear that he respects, and even admires, Wu.

This was supposed to be a friendly conversation, but it felt more like friendly fire. I guess that’s what happens when a running joke falls flat.

Let’s be clear this stereotype of Boston being super racist is getting super old. We’re 50 years past the ugly days of court-ordered busing in Boston to desegregate public schools. The scrappy white Boston of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck movies was fading 20 years ago, and feels even more dated today.

We have long been a majority-minority city — for a quarter of a century now. Our last two mayors have been women of color, as is the current City Council President, the state Attorney General, and one of our members of Congress.

It felt like Chieng was hoping he could go viral like “SNL Weekend Update” co-host Michael Che did in 2017 during a segment about the upcoming Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons.

“For three hours, I just don’t want to talk about any social issues or politics,” Che said. “I just want to relax, turn my brain off and watch the blackest city in America beat the most racist city I’ve ever been to.”

Yes, Che got blowback from Bostonians, and even an invitation from then Mayor Marty Walsh to come to Boston for a sit down to talk about his experiences with racism in the city.

But I don’t think Che ever met with Walsh. The comedian stood by his comment and tried to tamp down controversy by later posting on Instagram: “Listen boston, my grandma is racist too, but i still love her. & i still love you.”

I hope Chieng takes up Wu’s invitation to come to Boston so she can show him what the city’s really like. He’ll begin to understand how Wu became mayor, which is putting in the work over the past decade to get votes from every corner of the city as an at-large City Councilor and later her run for mayor. She won election after election because voters want someone who looks like them in City Hall.

Chieng has been to Boston because that’s where his family used to come to grocery shop for Malaysian foods they couldn’t find in New Hampshire.

“Boston is my childhood Chinatown,” he said. “We go there for supplies to bring it back to New Hampshire. You know, there’s not a lot of Malaysian grocery stores in Manchester, New Hampshire….So, I know, Boston.”

Chieng went on to say that he has a “lot of love for Boston” and how people were “nice” to him when he has been there.

Well, nice isn’t our reputation either. But this is a city that has worked hard to move beyond our racist past. And that’s no laughing matter.

Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at shirley.leung@globe.com.

Police in three different communities are investigating if three overnight break-ins in Boston, Somerville and Cambridge are connected.

Three masked thieves are seen on surveillance video busting into the City Smoke Shop in Boston’s North End at 2:31 a.m. Tuesday. Moments before, they hurled a large brick into the glass door, shattering it to get in and steal. 

“It’s infuriating, you know what I mean?” said Waldy Nova with City Smoke Shop. “People work hard to establish a business to make sure we’re doing right by the community around us and to have something like that happen is disheartening, it’s heartbreaking.” 

Three stores hit overnight

Then 30 minutes later at 3:00 a.m., police said a strangely similar scene played out in Somerville. 

Three masked guys wearing the same clothes as the Boston break in are caught on camera wielding a large brick to smash the window at D and K Smoke Shop. They snatched cash-vapes and cigarettes. 

“It happened within one minute,” said owner Kumraz Gurung. “Disappointment because it’s a small business.” 

Then again, a third strike not too far away in Cambridge with the same MO at 3:40 a.m. Three masked thieves are seen on video bursting into the Cambridge Smoke Shop and stealing cash. They even toppled over a case full of product before taking off. 

“It’s $3500 around it will cost us,” said Hitesh Prajabata at the Cambridge Smoke Shop. 

The shop has already been hit three times since last January.  “Don’t do this thing because we are very small business and it affects us a lot,” said Prajabata. 

Police are now investigating if the three break-ins in the three different communities are connected. 

“Get a job”

Business owners wonder if the thieves are after cash or product to resell, but they want the thieves to realize how much damage they leave behind.

“I mean get a job you know what I mean?” said Waldy Nova. “Work, there’s so many people who are working for their livelihoods and for their families to have the American dream right.” 

No one has been arrested and if you recognize the suspects in any of the videos, please call Boston, Somerville or Cambridge police.

The break-ins are the latest in a string a burglaries targeting vape and smoke shops in the Greater Boston area. Last week, thieves were caught on camera breaking into a vape shop in Brighton. 

Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar who promised to “bring hell” to Boston, announced Monday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had arrested 370 immigrants in Boston and surrounding areas over the past week, the latest escalation in the ongoing war of words between federal officials and political leaders in Boston and Massachusetts.

In a social media post announcing the arrests, Homan singled out Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey for criticism, saying they are standing in the way of the Trump administration’s efforts to deport criminals who are in the country illegally.

Here’s a closer look at everything that led up to the events of this week:

Congress announces investigation into Boston’s ‘sanctuary city’ status, calls Wu to testify

Within a week of Trump’s inauguration, a U.S. congressional committee announced that it was investigating the sanctuary city policies of Boston and three other cities, inviting their mayors to testify at a hearing in Washington, D.C.

Boston is one of several sanctuary cities in Massachusetts, under a local policy that dates back over a decade. Wu defended it after Trump’s re-election after he campaigned on the promise of an immigration crackdown.

Mayor Michelle Wu was invited to testify to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at a February hearing on the immigration policy

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Homan sounds off at CPAC

Homan teed off against Boston’s police commissioner in a February speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, saying there were at least nine accused “child rapists” in jail who local authorities wouldn’t turn over to ICE. He promised to come to Boston and “bring hell with him.”

That came after Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said in an interview that police didn’t have authority to enforce federal immigration laws or hand over people just because they’re in the country illegally — their immigration status isn’t “relevant to public safety,” he said.

The Boston Trust Act, updated in 2018, allows police to cooperate with ICE on “significant public safety, such as human trafficking, child exploitation, drug and weapons trafficking, and cybercrimes, while refraining from involvement in civil immigration enforcement.”

The city also must follow a 2017 ruling by the state’s highest court, which forbids Massachusetts authorities from holding a person otherwise entitled to release from custody based solely on a federal request.

In response, Wu said it was “clueless” and “insulting” for Homan to attack the commissioner, and that she wants Boston be a welcoming place for immigrants. Healey called Homan’s comments “unproductive” and ”not how you engage as a member of law enforcement.”

Tom Homan, the White House border czar, criticized Boston and its police commissioner in remarks at CPAC Saturday.

Mayor Wu testifies before Congress

On March 5, Wu and three other Democratic mayors testified before Congress about their so-called sanctuary city policies, with Republican committee members accusing them of endangering Americans and threatening to prosecute local officials.

The comments came in an often fiery hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where Republicans said the mayors were undermining President Donald Trump’s immigration and mass deportation efforts.

Republicans repeatedly highlighted a handful of brutal crimes committed by immigrants who crossed illegally into the U.S., with Rep. James Comer opening the hearings by saying the policies “only create sanctuary for criminals.”

But the Democratic mayors, including Wu, defended their policies as legal, even as they seemed to carefully avoid using the term “sanctuary.”

“I spoke with pastors whose pews are half-empty on Sundays,” said Wu, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan. “Doctors whose patients are missing appointments, teachers whose students aren’t coming to class, neighbors afraid to report crimes in their communities, and victims of violence who won’t call the police.

“This federal administration is making hard-working, taxpaying, God-fearing residents afraid to live their lives.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu pushed back against Republican lawmakers during a hearing on sanctuary cities while Bostonians on both sides of the argument sounded off at City Hall Plaza.

Wu doubles down during State of the City Address

In her State of the City Address last week, Wu doubled down on her testimony before Congress.

“Two weeks ago, I went down to D.C. because Congress had some questions about how we do things here in Boston. Now it might have been my voice speaking into the microphone that day, but it was 700,000 voices that gave Congress their answer: This is our city,” Wu said in her speech. “No one tells Boston how to take care of our own. Not kings, and not presidents who think they are kings. Boston was born facing down bullies.”

She also directly responded to Homan’s proclamation that he was “bringing hell” to Boston.

“Boston is the target in this fight for our future because we are the cradle of democracy, pioneers of the public good, the stewards and keepers of the American dream. We were built on the values this federal administration seeks to tear down,” Wu said. “But for 395 years, come high water or hell — no matter who threatens to bring it — Boston has stood up for the people we love and the country we built, and we’re not stopping now.”

Mayor Michelle Wu gave her third State of the City Address Wednesday night.

Border czar announces arrests of 370 Boston area immigrants

Federal immigration and law enforcement officials conducted a six-day “enhanced targeted enforcement operation focusing on transnational organized crime, gangs, and egregious illegal alien offenders” in Massachusetts over the last week, announcing Monday the apprehension of 370 individuals.

ICE said 205 of the people arrested during the March 18-23 focus on Massachusetts “had significant criminal convictions or charges,” including six foreign fugitives currently facing charges or convictions for murder, drug trafficking, organized crime, and money laundering.

They said arrests were made in Boston, Marlborough, Worcester, Salem, Milford, Lowell, Medford, Wakefield, New Bedford, Pittsfield, and West Yarmouth.

Federal officials said they also seized 44 kilograms of methamphetamine, five kilograms of fentanyl, just more than one kilogram of cocaine, three firearms and ammunition from “illegal alien offenders.”

“These officers and agents made the neighborhoods of Boston and Massachusetts much safer. They risked their own safety by arresting these criminals on the street, rather than a jail. Governor Healey and Mayor Wu should be ashamed of supporting sanctuary policies,” Homan said in a social media post. “Releasing public safety threats back into the public, rather than working with ICE at the jails, puts the public at great risk.

Homan said he visited Boston at the start of the sweep last Tuesday. The FBI on Monday shared photos of the command center it established to support the federal immigration enforcement effort, including pictures from Homan’s visit.

Border czar Tom Homan says 370 immigrants were arrested during a 5-day operation in Boston and surrounding communities.

Healey, Wu respond to ICE raids

Asked Monday about Homan’s comments, Healey said she hadn’t seen what Homan said, but reiterated comments she’s made recently, including an interview last week with NBC10 Boston.

“We are not a sanctuary state and we continue to cooperate with local, state and federal law enforcement,” Healey said, adding, “I’m not sure what the director’s referring to but it’s certainly always been our position that those who do things that are crimes, that people who are violent in communities, should be held accountable and taken off the streets.”

A spokesperson for Wu’s office released a statement in response to the ICE raids, urging federal authorities to release more details about those arrested.

“Boston is the safest major city in the country, and we partner with all levels of law enforcement to prevent crime and hold perpetrators accountable. Given that we have no information on these arrests, we cannot confirm how many took place within Boston police jurisdiction or in other cities, and we cannot confirm whether every individual was lawfully detained. We strongly urge ICE to release information on all the individuals detained in order to ensure transparency.”

Wu is scheduled to appear on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” on Tuesday night, where she could be asked to comment further on the situation.

Homan says feds will return to Boston

Border czar Homan appeared on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” program on Tuesday morning to talk about the recent ICE operation in Boston, and said federal agents will be returning to the city soon.

“We’re keeping President Trump’s promise. President Trump promised we’re going to secure the border, and he promised we’re going to prioritize public safety threats, national safety threats.”

“Boston, I said at CPAC they were a sanctuary state, and we’re going to come despite theri santuary status, we’re going to bring agents there and take these worst of the worst off the streets.”

Now that they’re in custody, he said “each and every one of them” will be deported.

“Mayor Wu in Boston said I was lying under oath, I was lying about her city. Well, we went to that city, went to the surrounding counties around the city, and look what we did in five days,” Homan added. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re not done. We’re going back, as I said. We’re going to keep going back.”